Hot as Hell, Cold as Ice
by Half-Blood Warrior Kitty
Summary: It's been nineteen years, and a new generation of inter-galactic heroes is born. A trio of 17-year-olds set out to rescue our favorite Vulcan and human. If they fail, the Enterprise will never be the same... Chapter 27 is up! Continuation of STXI. R
1. Dream

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Trek movie, even though I do wish I did. LOVED IT! 5-8-09!**

A tall being was being pushed through a metal doorway. He whirled around to try to shoulder his way out, but his attackers had vanished, and the door clanged shut. The half-vulcan blinked and stumbled into the light.

Now he was more visible, and the bruises covering his face and chest were brought into focus. He breathed heavily from the wounds. His blue Starfleet shirt and his comm were missing, so his ship couldn't contact him or beam him home. His dark hair hung into his eyes. His pointed ears were pricked and ready for any stray information that could give him a way out.

A metallic sound jolted him to his senses. It had said his name.

"Spock."

His head whipped up, his eyes quickly examining the scene. Spock shook his head. "I do not mean to be rude… but water?" he said to the window above him, raising an eyebrow. "To be honest, your methods of torture are quite primitive."

A masked voice spoke through a speaker. "We will see who is truly primitive, Spock, when you are forced to submit to our so-called 'elder' methods."

Spock's eyes widened as he heard the water rushing up the wide pipe in front of him. Instinctively, he backed up against the little patch of wall behind him.

"Like I said," the masked voice chuckled, "we shall see who is primitive!"

The Enterprise's first officer's heart pounded in his chest. The sound of his captor pressing a button went off, and Spock brought his hands in front of his face in defense.

Water, hot as flame, burning as hell, hit Spock's skin. The pain shot through his body. He yelped loudly as he was pushed to the ground by the extreme force. He gritted his teeth to keep from shouting his pain aloud; _Otherwise_, he thought, _they have won_.

This went on for a few minutes, and Spock started to grow used to the extreme heat. Then, the voice came onto the loudspeaker again, edged with laughter. "Let's cool you down, Spock!"

The water changed temperature so rapidly, Spock had little time to prepare himself. Now it was bitter cold, the ice needles biting at his hot-beaten skin. The howl of pure agony came before he could bite it back. _Dammit! One of the worst forms of torture!_ Spock fell to the floor.

"…Primitive…methods…" he coughed, despite the agonizing pain that racked his skin and the choking sensation that pulverized his lungs. The force of the water had drawn every breath, it seemed, out of him.

"Primitive, yes, but effective, Spock."

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"NO!"

Bryce woke from his nightmare in a cold sweat. He could taste the tears that trickled from his eyes. "No…" he choked out.

Bryce shook his head and dressed in his typical Starfleet Academy uniform. He slipped out of his dormitory and snuck into the girl's barracks. Once he was safely inside, he pounded on one of the doors. After a few knocks, he turned and looked around for any patrollers.

A hand reached out of the doorway he had knocked on and grabbed one of his pointed ears.

"Ow, ow, ow…" Bryce hissed as the hand dragged him inside.

"Shhhhhhh…"

Madison quietly shut the door behind him. "Well? What's the matter?" She folded her arms and stared at her friend who sat on the floor. "You're such a stickler to the rules, you wouldn't want to sneak out even if someone was eating your feet. Well?" she prompted.

Bryce rose from the carpet. He met his friend's concerned gaze."He's in trouble. I can feel it."

Madison was confused. "Who?"

Bryce took a deep breath.

"My father."


	2. Promise

Bryce sat on his bed in his dorm, deep in thought. His and Madison's conversation rolled through his mind.

______________________________________________________________________

"How do you know he's in trouble?" Madison stroked her roommate, Lyric's, tribble, who purred happily.

Bryce sat on the chair near the wardrobe. He checked his watch; it was two in the morning.

"I had a dream. I felt how he felt. I… was there…"

Madison put the tribble down. "Like an empathy link; you can feel someone's pain if they're really close to you." She grabbed her messenger bag and started rummaging through it. "You don't need to tell me what the dream was," Madison smirked. "I can worm it out of you."

She brought out a device with suction cups attached to wires which connected to a small box. The box had a recordable disc inside, and it was attached to a projector. Madison slung her bag onto her bed, and attached the suction cups to Bryce's head.

His brow furrowed. "Is this going to hurt?"

"Relax, ginger! What could possibly happen?" Madison giggled, stroking the natural brown-red highlights in Bryce's light brown hair soothingly.

"Last time we tried one of your crazy inventions, you made me half bald, Maddie," Bryce reminded his friend.

Maddie didn't hear. She was already gazing intently at the projector screen, which showed an image of Bryce's brain. She zoomed in on a certain spot. "This," she explained, "is where your dreams are made and stored."

She searched through the sector and smiled. "Got it." She hit the record button on the box.

The dream played back on the projector. Somehow, it was more horrifying the second time, even though Bryce knew what was coming.

He glanced over at Madison, whose smile had faded the second she saw the bruised Spock, bleeding green, and with no comm or anything to beam him home. "U...uncle Spock?" She turned away from Bryce, but not before he noticed the tears in her eyes. _Understandable_, he thought, _seeing as Spock was like another father to Madison._

The dream ended, and Maddie pressed the 'stop' button. A teardrop splashed onto the box, making a soft plunk.

"What happened?" The new voice rang out through the room. Maddie and Bryce both jerked their heads up.

Lyric sat up in her bed. Bryce wondered why she hadn't woken up when he and Maddie were talking and why she woke up when a tiny teardrop fell on a metal box.

"Maddie? Are you...crying?" Lyric had taken in Madison's swollen, red face.

Maddie's head was hung low, her dark blonde hair fell into her face and shook when she nodded. Wordlessly, she bent and played Bryce's dream again.

Lyric watched in silence, playing with Madison's hair as the tears rolled down the latter's face. "Oh no… Not Spock…" Lyric murmured.

"You're telling me," Maddie whispered.

Lyric shook her head. "This is almost as bad as the time we had to save your sorry ass from being erased from existence, eh, Ginger?"

Bryce took the suction cups off his head; he had forgotten they were there. "Shut up. That was not my fault."

Lyric slapped her hand to her forehead. "Maddie! You have your hearing today!"

Madison snapped her head up. "Say what?" Her bright blue eyes were almost dry.

______________________________________________________________________

Bryce glanced at his watch. Four in the morning. He sighed, and stared at the deserted bed across the room. _Of cours_e, he remembered, _Billy would still be in the hospital wing._

The line of duct tape was still in place from the first day of school. Bryce smiled; the line had been strategically placed so that Billy couldn't reach the door without crossing onto Bryce's half of the room.

He wasn't entirely sure how Billy had gotten out of the locked closet on Madison's ship, but he DID remember beating him to a bloody, nonexistant pulp after Billy harassed Madison at their favorite restaurant. _But that was four years ago,_ he reminded himself. _Plus, after that, I didn't exist..._ He shook himself out of the memory.

Bryce slid out his photo album from under his shirts. He opened it to the first page. Bryce grinned sadly. A note from his mother was on the inside cover, and a picture was on the opposite page.

In the picture, a five-year-old Bryce smiled with two missing teeth. His mother sat to his left, her arm around his shoulders. Bryce's father, Spock, stood to his right, smiling slightly. His left hand flattened Bryce's hair.

A teardrop slid down Bryce's face and landed on the laminated photo. It beaded up right in the middle.

"We'll come for you, Dad," Bryce whispered.

"I promise."


	3. Suspicion

Madison gathered up her books. "Ly. Wake up." She shook Lyric and wondered how she could fall back asleep after something so traumatizing. "Ly…" she called. "We still have class before the…hearing."

Maddie, in spite of herself, smiled in satisfaction. Billy…the sexual offender on two accounts. One four years ago, but Bryce had taken care of that. Now…he had harassed someone else…and Maddie smiled at the memory of proving that the legs could bend farther than everyone said they could…

Of course, she would probably be expelled for this mishap. _You've gone too far this time,_ the principal had said.

Lyric finally got up and ready. Together, the pair met Bryce in the hall and walked off to Alien Languages.

______________________________________________________________________

Commander Angler taught Alien Languages. Bryce, of course, had no problem with the class. His mother, Lt. Uhura, majored in linguistics, so naturally Bryce aced this course.

Madison and Lyric just leaned back and relaxed. Bryce always helped them study, and Commander Angler's voice was just torture to listen to.

Maddie glanced over at Bryce. The tip of his ear was trembling as he struggled to concentrate in one of his favorite subjects. He tapped his fingers on his desk as he chewed on his lower lip in anxiety. Madison could tell that he wasn't nervous for her hearing…

Class ended, and the three rose and stretched. Bryce stared into space as he gathered his books. Commander Angler sat at his desk, fanning himself with a folder.

"God, it's hot in here," he complained.

Maddie blinked. "Go take a hot shower," she suggested.

The commander narrowed his eyes. "I just said I was _hot_," he reminded her.

"Yes," Madison shrugged and tapped her foot, impatience with this stupid person making her temper flare up. "It's simple science, sir. If you take a hot shower, then it warms the skin. It is not only relaxing, but cooling, as in, when you get out into the normal air temperature, the air feels cooler against your hot-beaten skin."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bryce flinch- probably at the memory of his father's skin being pounded with flaming water.

Angler was intrigued, and it showed on his face. "Hmm…How do you-"

"How do I know? It's simple science, really. Conduction, convection, that sort of thing. Commander…Spock got me interested in science," Madison swallowed.

"Really? Well, Spock was a good friend of mine at the academy. I'll tell him of your flattery immediately."

"Umm…" Maddie gulped. Touchy subject. "Spock…well…he…can't be reached right now."

Angler raised an eyebrow. "Explain please?"

"Spock is…gone."

The commander's eyes widened. "Gone as in…_dead_?"

Bryce spoke up. "No. At least…we don't think so. We, uh, hope not."

The commander closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Madison saw suspicion, fear, and anger flit across his face. At least, she thought she did before Angler smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I saw you weren't paying attention in class today," he pointed to Bryce. Angler rose out of his chair. He opened the door, showing the three out.

"Sir," Lyric stammered. "You are coming to the hearing, right? All personnel have to be there…" Her tone sounded distrusting; _why?_

"Yes, I am coming. I just need to straighten out a few things." He smiled.

The three friends paced down the hall. Madison felt Bryce, on her left, turn around. Lyric, on her right, shifted uncomfortably.

_Face it, Maddie. There's something wrong here. You just need to figure out what._


	4. Investigation

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you two today?" Madison rounded on her friends. "You guys have been acting _so WEIRD!"_

Bryce said nothing, but he pulled Maddie and Ly by the arms into a janitor's closet. He closed the door carefully and flicked on the light.

Lyric played with her hair; her usual habit out of nervousness. "Maddie…maybe we shouldn't talk about this now…"

"Why? If we're going to spy on Angler, we might not get another shot!"

Madison blinked. "Huh? Spying? Why? What's going on, Ginger?" She paced around the tiny closet, tapping her hands on the shelves.

Bryce swallowed. "Over the summer, I kind of learned how to do a…so-called 'wireless' mind-meld."

"Your point being?"

"My point being, I mind-melded Angler back at the classroom. The minute you said that Spock was gone, he was panicking. His main thought; 'She suspects. But how?' Remember, the only reason we know that my father is missing is because I had that dream and shared it with you. Otherwise," he reminded his friends. "_We would not have known_."

"Plus, Angler was staring at us funnily after we left the room," Lyric chimed in. "But, Bryce…how are we going to spy on him? He'd see us." Ly played with her hair fiercely; Madison wondered if she was going to pull it out.

"You put up a good argument, both of you," Maddie spoke slowly after a moment of thought. "Which is why…I have the answers to both of your prayers." She flashed a crooked smile. Madison picked up her messenger bag and felt around in it. Lyric's eyes widened; Maddie's arm was only visible above her shoulder. The bag didn't seem big enough to incorporate that length.

Madison pulled out a large black box. "Recording device," she explained. "If what you're saying is true…Spock is light-years away from here, right? And if Angler is in league with his captors, he might try to contact them to either see if we're right, _or_ he already knows, and wants to tell his boss that we suspect. We may as well get the evidence." She checked her watch. "Doubt he's made the video connection by now, but we have to work fast." Madison tossed Bryce a map.

"What's this, and should I be scared?" Bryce raised an eyebrow.

"That's a map of Starfleet Academy, and yes, you should be scared. Ly, hand me the screwdriver on the inside pocket." Madison was balanced on top of three crates, holding the recording device in her left hand.

Lyric glanced from Maddie reaching her hand out for the screwdriver and Bryce poring over the map, horrified, yet impressed with the detail. Ly could tell that he was hooked on this idea. "Why am I friends with you guys?" she sighed and handed Madison the screwdriver.

______________________________________________________________________

Two minutes later, the three friends were crawling through the air vents of Starfleet Academy.

_Whoa! Maddie has EVERYTHING on here! Air vents, secret tunnels, even the commanders' quarters._ Bryce held a flashlight in his mouth and watched in amazement as the virtual peg moved where he did; kind of like a personal "YOU ARE HERE" sign.

"Maddie!" he hissed. "We're above Angler's office!" Bryce peered down through the vent below him. He signaled to Ly and Maddie to come closer.

"Excellent!" Madison breathed. She fit the recording device over the vent and pressed a button.

Bryce watched Commander Angler as the latter scrambled around the room cursing. "Why can't I set up a simple connection? It's not rocket science! Ah, there we go!"

Angler visibly relaxed as the connection took hold. A figure cloaked in black appeared on the screen. "What is it, Commander? It had better be important. We are in the middle of…important affairs," he chuckled.

Bryce winced next to Madison as a scream echoed from the speakers. It sounded far away; possibly down a hall? She'd ask Bryce later.

"Yes, my lord," Angler stammered reverently. "The boy and his friends-"

"Spock's son?"

"Yes. He and his friends- I fear they suspect."

The room was silent for a minute. "You suggest an empathy link?"

"From the boy? Yes, my lord. One of the girls is an inventor; she probably wormed it out of him. If he knows…"

"Your suspicions are, to quote an enemy, _logical_, yet I doubt the three children can guess our coordinates. We are constantly moving at Warp 12; it is impossible that they will find us," the captor's voice was edged with laughter.

Madison heard Bryce's teeth grind together at the word _logical_. She grasped his wrist and mouthed _No_.

If Bryce acted now, they might not get the crucial information they needed if they wanted to rescue Spock.

Angler tensed. "Spock used to be a…friend at the academy."

"What happened to change that?" The inquiry seemed to take Angler by surprise.

"Huh? Sorry, master. A…girl I liked…" he shook his head. "Never mind, my lord."

The captor leaned back. "What? Lieutenant Uhura of the USS Enterprise? Spock's wife? _You_ fancied her?" He erupted into peals of laughter. "Easily understood. A fine woman indeed."

Madison jumped slightly as she heard a soft metal clang. Lyric had pressed Bryce to the bottom of the vent. Both of them had heard him growl in anger. "Bryce! You're going to get us killed!" Lyric whispered.

Angler checked his watch. "Oh…"

The captor cocked his head. "You have some prior engagement?"

"Yes, my lord. Madison's hearing starts in ten minutes."

"What did she do this time?" the 'lord' asked, intrigued.

_This time?_

The thought was echoed in three minds.

_He's been reporting everything we do to…that creep?_

_I knew it! I knew there was something he was hiding! Take that, Ly!_

_Oh my god…this is not good…not at all…_

"Commander. Make sure all goes according to plan. They are to be kept in the academy until further notice; all three of them. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my lord. All will follow the plan; all will be well."

"Soon, with the Enterprise under our control, all of Starfleet will be under _my_ command!" The captor exhibited the perfect creepy-villain evil-laugh. "Get going, Commander."

______________________________________________________________________

Maddie crawled ahead of Ly and Bryce; after all, it was _her_ hearing. "I don't like that at all," Lyric whispered. "But you didn't need to _growl_. You really let that quarter-Vulcan-ness get out this time, Ginger."

Bryce glared back at her. "Not taking that as an insult, Shorty. What's bothering me is that we can't do a single thing that prevents Angler's 'plan' from succeeding. We can't sneak off campus; the grounds are wired. We can't _kill_ Angler, although I would very much like to, but we'd get _arrested_ or something." Bryce counted out the ways that they _couldn't_ stop Angler on his fingers. "And even if we did try to sneak away," he pointed out. "A teacher would probably catch us."

Maddie was already on the floor in the janitor's closet when she heard Bryce and Ly arguing- _again_. "Guys. We have to go. The hearing's in five minutes. If I'm late…" she swallowed. "I'm as good as gone."


	5. Trial Pt 1

Madison took out a comb from her messenger bag's pocket and pulled it through her ponytail.

_So this is all Angler's fault…_ Bryce had told her that Angler was thinking that he deserved more credit, and maybe a promotion. _"After all,"_ Bryce had growled. _"He was the one who gave them my dad's coordinates in the first place. He's a commander; of course he knew that Spock was on a mission."_

Maddie shook her head. She had to get to the hearing. Madison sighed and pushed open the door to the assembly hall. She straightened her red Starfleet Academy uniform and strode up to the main desk. She had time before the hearing. Maddie took her place at the trial podium and drummed her fingers on the wood. She tested whether she could hook her laptop up to the projector or not. That was key if she was going to stay at Starfleet Academy…

______________________________________________________________________

Bryce brushed the dust off of his uniform. He walked beside Lyric, deep in thought.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Ly stared at him.

He jumped a few inches off the ground. "Oh, sorry, Ly. I was just…thinking. Trying to calm myself down."

Ly blinked. "You know, it's alright to be concerned about Spock," she murmured. "You don't need to hide it; you don't need to be…"

Bryce narrowed his eyes. "_What_ don't I need to be, Shorty?" he used the annoying nickname.

"You don't need to be _Vulcan_," Lyric got on her tip-toes to whisper into Bryce's ear.

Bryce stared at Ly sadly. "What am I supposed to do?" he muttered. "My father chose to be Vulcan, and if I ever want to understand him, I'll have to follow that path too. That means I won't be able to share my feelings and have to abide by logic." He closed his brown eyes and shook his head. "Who am I supposed to be?" Bryce opened his eyes and looked to Lyric for advice.

Suddenly, a hand came out of nowhere and slapped him across the left side of his face. "OW! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing the slap-mark.

"Be yourself, you dumbass, whoever that _is_!" Lyric shook her hand; apparently the hard slap had hurt her as well.

Bryce shifted his gaze to the floor sheepishly, or maybe his face was still red from Ly's slap. "Come on. We should get to the hearing," he sighed. "I'm sorry for ranting, Ly."

"It's okay, Ginger. I won't hold it against you," Ly looked into Bryce's wide, nervous brown eyes. She realized that he was so conflicted on so many matters. "It's okay," she repeated. "Let's go."

______________________________________________________________________

Bryce and Lyric turned right to make their way up the stairs to their normal seats in the middle of the student section. It felt weird not sitting next to Madison.

Madison, at her podium, was staring around the room, looking for two specific faces. She found them, and smiled nervously. Bryce smiled back, trying to put on a brave face. Lyric winked and gave Maddie a thumbs-up. Bryce could tell that Ly was just as nervous as Maddie below.

"Settle down," the headmaster of Starfleet Academy boomed. "We are ready to begin."

The rest of the students filed in. Bryce smiled. _Be sarcastic and witty, get them on your side, betray no emotion…_Maddie went over her checklist in her head.

"Let's get started. We are here with Miss Madison-"

In the middle of the headmaster's sentence, the door burst open. Four men strode into the room, and the students all turned to look at them. The one in the lead had a broad grin on his face. "What did I miss?"

Bryce saw Madison whip her head around to stare. "Oh no," she mouthed.

The man in the front picked her out. "Hey, Mads. What did you do this time?" He was still smiling.

Madison's face was red as she stared at the floor. "I started a fight," she whispered.

The man frowned. "That was very naughty of you, Madison." His eyes flicked from side to side as he leaned closer. "Did you win?"

Madison grinned. "Yes, Dad. I kicked the crap out of Billy over there," she pointed to Billy, whose face was bruised and swollen, and one of his legs hung at an awkward angle.

"That's my girl!"

The headmaster's jaw gaped. "Sir, I cannot believe you _encourage_ this behavior!"

Madison's father shrugged. "If my kid is going to get into a fight at school, she might as well win."

The headmaster sighed. "Please sit down."

"Make us," Maddie's dad retorted.

Next to Bryce, Lyric scrunched down in her seat. "What's the matter?"

"My dad's here."

"So?"

"So, the only reason we're here is because Billy harassed _me_!" She shook her head. "It's a good thing that Maddie keeps the dorm under surveillance." Ly ducked under her chair.

Bryce closed his eyes and sighed. "He will find out sooner or later. The headmaster is speaking again."

"Please. Sit. Now."

Maddie's dad was being sarcastic as usual. "You know, I don't think I will," he stroked his chin.

"Sit down, Mister Kirk!" the headmaster stood and shouted.

"That's _Captain_ Kirk, to you."


	6. Trial Pt 2

Bryce smiled at the sight of Jim poking his finger into the headmaster's chest. Lyric looked up at him. "What are _you_ laughing at, Ginger?" She was still stationed under her chair.

Bryce pointed down to where Jim _still_ refused to sit down.

The other three men were fidgeting nervously. One stepped up. "Jim? If we're going to get to our order of business, then we had better," his voice changed to a shout. "SIT DOWN!"

Ly yelped. "I can see his neck bulging from here!"

Bryce's brow furrowed. "You're…under a chair…"

"I know!" Ly whimpered.

Meanwhile, Jim had turned to his angry companion. "Chill _out_, Bones!" he chuckled. "I was just messing with him! Sulu, Chekov, let's sit down for the honorable headmaster," he bowed jerkily to the headmaster, who growled.

"As I was _saying_ before we were so rudely interrupted… We are here with Miss Madison Ada Kirk, on the account that she beat young Billy over there to a bloody, twisted, nonexistent pulp. Miss Kirk, please state your reasoning and present your case before the Starfleet Academy High Council."

Maddie swallowed. "A week ago, I walked into my dormitory that I share with my best friend, Lyric, to find…Billy here," she spoke with distaste and disgust as she paced the floor. "_sexually harassing_ my friend and roommate like he did to me _four years ago!"_ She pointed her finger at Billy as there was a horrified gasp from the crowd.

Lyric closed her eyes and brought her knees up to her chest. "Here we go…"

Maddie couldn't resist looking behind her. Her father's eyes were wide, Chekov had brought his hand to his mouth, and Sulu was blinking hard. But the most priceless look of all was Bones, whose mouth had gaped about five inches, his brow was knit at the middle, and his face was turning crimson.

"Yes, my friends," declared Maddie, biting back a laugh. "I have video proof that Billy harassed Lyric McCoy."

"What's he thinking?" Ly whimpered.

Bryce knit his brow in thought and closed his eyes. _WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!? NOBODY TOUCHES LY AND GETS AWAY WITH IT! WHY, WHEN THAT LITTLE PRAT RECOVERS, HE'LL WISH HE WAS NEVER BORN! HE'LL WISH HE NEVER _EXISTED! Bones' thoughts used a few more choice swear words that made Bryce's back straighten in surprise.

Bryce opened his eyes wide and touched his finger to Ly's temple. As the knowledge of Bones' thoughts seeped into her mind, she moaned. "I don't want my dad to get arrested!"

Maddie pressed play on her laptop, and Bones' anger grew and grew. He started to rise from his chair, but Kirk pushed him down. Maddie heard him whisper, "At least wait until he recovers…" and cracked a smile. The video ended, and Madison flicked on the lights.

"Now, according to the Starfleet Academy Handbook section 152A.5, subsection 8, this kind of behavior is not accepted under _any_ circumstances." She blinked, and her blue eyes shone with a slight air of mischief. "I do believe I have made my point and justified my actions accordingly." She grinned, as if daring anyone to contradict her.

Bryce did all in his power to bite back a giggle. _Take that, you son of a-_ The headmaster interrupted Bryce's thoughts.

"Miss Kirk, consider your actions justified." He banged his gavel on the desk. "You're off the hook," the headmaster smiled. "As for you, Billy. _You_ will receive punishment."

Maddie smiled broadly and spun around to look at Bryce and…? She narrowed her eyes and mouthed, _Where's Ly?_

Bryce extended his right arm to the empty seat beside him and pointed downward. Maddie saw him shift his confused gaze to the center of the room. She whipped her gaze around to see that the crew of the Enterprise had risen out of their seats.

Jim Kirk was speaking to the headmaster while reaching for the intercom. "…it's kind of urgent," Maddie heard him say.

"Why couldn't Commander Spock notify me of this? Doesn't a captain have to stay with his ship?" the headmaster retorted, handing Jim the intercom.

Kirk swallowed and fiddled with the intercom. "Regrettably, Mr. Spock is…not on the Enterprise, and not, erm, _able_ to deliver this information."

The students who were chatting and milling about in the seats instantly shut up.

Kirk heard the sudden silence and brought his hand up to his forehead. "I…just said that over the intercom, didn't I?"

"Yesh, you deed, Keptin," Chekov mumbled.

"Well, now that I have your attention," Kirk amended. "The Enterprise is low on crew members. We have looked at the student records, and chosen some of you to come aboard the starship. A list was posted, please check to see if your name is on it. Madison Kirk…"

Madison rose out of her seat. She knew by the way her father winked at her when he said her name that she was on the ship and didn't need to check the list. She winked back.

"…Bryce…"

Bryce stood up and jerked his shirt back into place stiffly. He nodded to acknowledge to Jim that he had heard.

"…and Lyric McCoy…"

Ly slowly came out from under her chair. She pursed her lips embarrassedly, and waved slightly.

"…you all do not need to check the roster. You are all aboard the Enterprise, and we would like to talk to you." Kirk addressed the student body again. "You all have twenty minutes to pack. Kirk out."

Bryce couldn't help shooting a glance at Angler. The Commander's hands were twitching. _Master is going to kill me for not keeping them in the school! So valuable, I have to do something to keep them here!_

Angler walked swiftly out the door.

"I'll be back…" Bryce whispered to Maddie and Ly.

"I've got something to take care of."


	7. Fury

Bryce tailed Commander Angler through the mass of students gossiping about what happened to Spock, what they were going to be on the Enterprise, and so on. Mostly, it boiled down to Spock, which only fueled Bryce's anger.

"Commander!" Bryce called, faking a cheerful grin and tone.

Angler whirled around; the surprise on his face morphed into a hopeful smile. "Bryce, my boy! What can I do for you? Oh, wait! I understand," he plowed ahead before Bryce could answer. "You don't want to go on the Enterprise, is that it? Because your father's not there and you would feel awkward." He put his hand on Bryce's shoulder. "You can hide in my office, if you'd like."

Bryce glared at the Commander. "Don't touch me," he grasped Angler's hand with a vice grip and twisted the officer's arm behind the latter's back.

"That's first. Second, I have lived on the Enterprise for most of my life. I wouldn't miss an opportunity to go back." Bryce dropped his voice to a whisper. "And third, you little _traitor_," he hissed. "You are not going to tear apart my family. Do you understand me?" When Angler refused to answer, or couldn't due to the shock, Bryce raised the Commander's arm. "Well? Do you?" he shouted.

"I…understand." _That little twit. This is for his own good. When master finally comes for him, he won't care about death; he'll gladly give in, if I know Bryce_, Angler thought gleefully.

Bryce detected the lie and released his teacher's arm.

Angler scrambled into a standing position, only to be knocked down again by a blow from Bryce's fist. "By nobe!" He felt the blood cascading down his face.

Bryce blinked, and stared at his own bloody fist. He glanced at Angler's nose. "Huh. I guess I broke it."

Angler opened his mouth, about to reply.

"One more thing." Bryce took his pocketknife out. He threw it, with expertise, to hit the wall about an inch from the Commander's jugular vein.

Angler gasped.

"Next time," Bryce warned, pocketing his knife. "I will not miss."

Angler blinked. "I neber tought you coud be tis anhry. You brog by nobe!"

Bryce shrugged indifferently. "Go get ice. I have to pack." He spun on his heels and stormed away, not looking back once.

______________________________________________________________________

Madison was racing around her dorm, making sure she forgot nothing. She stroked Ly's tribble, who purred at the slight affectionate gesture. She saw Lyric gathering her things in the closet, as Maddie was clearing the shelves.

There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Maddie cried. She opened the door to see Bryce standing with his bags.

"How'd you finish so fast?" Maddie glared playfully at her friend.

"I don't have much. Need any help?" he started to walk inside and picked up his two bags with his left hand, which struck Maddie as odd; as Bryce was right-handed. His right hand was behind his back.

Maddie thought quickly and devised a test. She let the door swing shut.

Instinctively, Bryce shot his right hand out to catch the door, and Madison caught him by the wrist. "Crap," Bryce softly chuckled as she took in the blood.

Madison stared at him as Lyric walked up. "Who'd you hit?"

Bryce blinked innocently. "How do you know I didn't get a cut and haven't gone to the infirmary yet?"

"Because the blood on your hand is red." Madison and Lyric spoke in unison. "Yours is green, like your father's," Ly pointed out.

"I _am_ only part Vulcan. Mostly human, and you both know that. My heart is where yours is," he pointed to the left side of his chest. "My father's," he choked out. "is down here," he poked the bottom-right side of his ribcage.

"We don't care. Who did you hit?" Lyric accented each word.

"That lying, pain-in-the-ass, backstabbing son-of-a-bitch! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Bryce suddenly burst out, and pulled his fingers through his hair. Madison was taken aback by the sudden tears sliding down his face.

"Which one?" Maddie cocked her head. "Angler?"

Bryce nodded and hiccuped.

"Excuse me, but I always thought your father told you not to curse, Bryce." Ly punched him good-intentionally on the shoulder.

"Yes, but _your_ father rubbed off on me," he retorted.

Maddie sighed. "He only curses when he's really upset." She gave Bryce a quick hug. "If you weren't so sad, I would have subjected you to torture by helping us pack our-"

Bryce slapped his hand over Madison's mouth to shut her up.

"Oh, come on. _I'd_ make him do it anyway. It'll help him for when he gets married; I mean _if_ he gets married!" Ly smiled toothily, and both girls burst out into fits of laughter.

Bryce grinned wickedly. "I am going to _murder_ you!" he growled playfully as he started after Lyric.

Madison leaned against the wall and smiled as she watched Bryce chase Lyric around the room. It was good to have friends; even the crazy ones.


	8. Shuttle

**HBWK/N: Lyric McCoy is not my character. She belongs to Reaper-Lawliet, who is a friend of mine.**

**Maddie: We still love you, Ly! -hugs-**

**Ly: -choking-**

**Bryce: O.o -joins the hug-**

**______________________________________________________________________**

"Ok, kids! Since the Enterprise has docked at the Starbase for maintenance and repairs, we are taking a shuttlecraft up. I would buckle your seatbelts if I were you; space travel gets a little bumpy! Kirk out!"

As her father clicked off the intercom, Maddie felt tension in his voice. _What could my dad POSSIBLY be nervous about?_

"Ly?" Maddie turned to her right and shook Ly's tense shoulder. "Did my dad sound…_nervous_ to you?"

"No. I don't care." Lyric was trembling. Madison was taken aback at her sudden abruptness.

"Ly? Are you Ok?"

"No. I might throw up on you." Ly's hands were clenched around her armrests.

"Hey, Ly, there's nothing to be scared about. These things are pretty safe…"

"It's not that. What's my dad going to say? I've been avoiding him all day, and I can't once I get into the medical bay!" Ly shivered.

Maddie grimaced and patted her friend's shoulder. There was nothing she could do but get out Ly's tribble for her to pet. She had other worries…

______________________________________________________________________

Bryce closed his eyes and sighed. He was going to see his mother again, but could only imagine the wreck he'd find. Nyota Uhura was normally strong, but when it came to Spock…

A boy about Bryce's age walked up the aisle. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked, jolting Bryce out of his thoughts. "I can't seem to find a seat."

"Umm, yeah, sure. Go ahead," Bryce turned to the window of the craft and closed his eyes again. It had been a long day that had started at two am. He could use some sleep…

"My name's Jeremy, by the way."

Bryce snapped his eyes open to see Jeremy's extended hand in front of his nose; he had to cross his eyes to see it. "I'm Bryce," he dragged out his words and shook the hand. "Sorry, but I have had a long and…_unpleasant_ day. If you don't mind…" he turned away again.

"Oh. Ok," Jeremy nodded to himself. He looked at the seat in front of him, examining the details. He blinked, tapped his hands on his knees, and stared at the ceiling. Then, he stared around the craft at all of the other Academy students chosen to work aboard the Enterprise.

For Bryce, it was just relaxing to see the insides of his eyelids and to hear nothing except his own breathing. Somehow, he knew he was going to have a stressful week, and Madison and Lyric would be involved. He predicted at least two fights with Lyric, which involved himself putting his hands over his ears to keep her from expressing her usually illogical opinion.

"Hey, Bryce? Where'd you-"

"If you ask me about my ears, I am at liberty to strangle you," Bryce cut Jeremy off without opening his eyes. He smiled in satisfaction at the boy's surprised and fearful yelp. _That shut him up,_ he grinned at Jeremy's terrified thoughts. _Now I can get some shuteye…_

"I'm from Michigan. Where are you from?"

_Uh. I am NOT going to get out of this, am I?_ "I was born on the Enterprise. Are you happy now?"

Jeremy's jaw gaped. "So _you're_ Spock's son? I heard what happened. I'm sorry."

Bryce opened his eyes and turned to only see concern and worry in Jeremy's eyes. "Don't be. My father always knows what he's doing. He'll come back."

"How do you know? How do you know he's not…" Jeremy swung his head back and forth. _"Dead?"_ he whispered.

Bryce blinked back tears, hoping Jeremy hadn't seen. "I just know, okay? It's…logical."

"Hey Bryce!" Maddie whispered from two rows up. "Ly fell asleep, but we're almost at the Starbase." Panic showed on her face. "If I wake her, she'll kill me! If I don't, she'll wish I had! Help!"

Bryce grinned and turned to Jeremy. "Give me a minute." He stood up slightly, and called to Ly. "Shorty! Wake up! Your dad wanted me to tell you that your dating age has been raised to 612!" That was not exactly a lie…Bryce had heard Bones muttering about the topic under his breath. "And, he says you'll never amount to anything! You'll just be a drunkard like your mom!" Ok, maybe _that_ part was a lie. Ly always loved to complain about her mother and make fun. But, if this didn't wake her up, nothing would.

As if on cue, Lyric's head suddenly popped up from the seat. "You take that back, Ginger! Or so help me, I'll-"

She never finished. Bryce and Madison had burst out into fits of laughter at Ly's bedhead. Her short, dark hair was tangled into a rat's nest, and her eyes had bags beneath them. "What is so funny?"

Madison, stifling a laugh, pulled a mirror out of her messenger bag and showed Ly her reflection.

Lyric glared at Bryce. "Do you have a flamethrower in there?"

Bryce made a face at her. "Oh, like a flamethrower would _fit_ in that thing. Be rational, Shorty. Be lo…gi…cal. Oh, god."

He had glanced at Madison, who wore the look of a wounded puppy while holding… a flamethrower.

"You're bluffing. Shorty, tell me she's bluffing." Bryce blinked to clear his head, or maybe to make the flamethrower go away.

"Sorry, Ginger," Maddie whimpered. The nickname had caught on long ago, so Bryce wasn't exactly fazed. "Not bluffing. The bag's scientifically altered to fit as much as 75 pounds without me feeling a thing. Why else would I make my creations light?" She blinked hard, as if insulted.

"That's what I get for having a best friend who's an inventor. How did you…?" Bryce shook his head. "Never mind. I don't want to know."


	9. Charge

The shuttlecraft landed at the Starbase and, with a rush, the excited students piled out. The Enterprise was recruiting so many students that two shuttlecrafts had to be loaded. Madison noticed that they were the first shuttle to arrive, but the second one was coming up behind the first.

Bryce had seemed to visibly cheer up once Jim had announced that they were docking. Madison smiled; she could tell he was in good spirits to be up in space again.

"Hey, Ginger? Isn't that your mom over there?" Lyric stared.

Bryce whipped his head around to see Jim and Bones talking to Lieutenant Uhura. She wasn't exactly crying, but Bryce could see that his mother wasn't the same. He breathed out and put on a smile as he strolled over to greet Uhura.

Madison and Lyric kept their distances, but they could see Uhura's facial expressions change. She smiled like she always did, and gave her son a hug.

Bryce knew that he should not ask Uhura where his father was. She didn't know, and the inquiry would only hurt her.

"You got taller," the Lieutenant noted as she tucked some of Bryce's hair behind his pointed ear. A hesitant look swept over her face and anxiety raced through her thoughts, but only for a split second, and she smiled again.

Madison decided to end the awkward moment by stepping in to give Uhura a hug. "It's been a while," she grinned.

Uhura laughed. "For a second there, I thought you had forgotten me."

Jim Kirk broke into the conversation. "How could she forget the woman who helped me raise her?"

Uhura raised an eyebrow. "_Helped_ you raise her? If I remember correctly, _I_ had my hands full with these two while you were on the bridge."

Madison and Bryce blushed and Lyric stared at them. "Excuse me," she interrupted politely. "But what exactly did these two _do_ when they were little?"

Bryce started, and his eyes widened. He leaned down to Madison's ear. "I am going to kill her," he whispered quickly.

"We don't even know if they are going to _tell_ yet," she whispered just as fast.

"…Well, there was that time where Bryce turned of the video screen when we were on with an important ambassador."

Bones fought to remember. "He was…three, if I recall correctly. Right, Jim?"

Jim chuckled. "Oh yeah!" He dragged out the words in memory.

Bryce raised his eyebrows and Lyric sniggered. He had turned as beet red as his Starfleet Academy uniform.

Bones added on, "And, the ambassador was Sarek…"

Jim nodded. "And Bryce told him to find another ship for transport, because he asked Spock why Sarek had ignored him. His answer was 'Because he hates me.' Wasn't a lie; Sarek _really_ seemed to detest him."

Madison noticed that Uhura was tensing and that her eyes were growing red. "Umm," she muttered. "Ix-nay on the ock-Spay!"

Kirk checked his watch. "It's time to get back on board. Mads," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I need to talk to you. Walk with me." Kirk smiled. "We'll meet up with you later."

Maddie grinned. "Meet you on board. Dad probably wants to lay down some ground rules." She shrugged. "I mean, who wouldn't lay down rules if they had _me_ as a daughter."

She followed her father onto the Enterprise. Almost instantly, her smile faded. "Dad. I know something's wrong."

Kirk broke stride and turned around. "How did you…?"

"Just a hunch on the shuttlecraft. You sounded nervous." _No one else thought so though…_

Kirk nodded. "There _is_ one thing… Starfleet sent Spock on a mission over a month ago, and we stopped receiving his transitions a few days ago. He sent them twice a week."

"Let me guess. You're going to go looking for him."

The captain smiled. "You're very smart for your age. Yes, I'm going."

Maddie blinked. "So why are you telling me this? Scotty'll handle things fine."

"I'm telling you this because when I asked Scotty, he told me he was emotionally compromised, and couldn't take charge."

"What about Sulu? Chekov?"

"They all said the same. I didn't dare ask Uhura, at the risk that she'd start crying again." Kirk strapped on his phaser belt, and set one phaser to stun, and one to kill. "Spock was a good friend to all of them, but since they aren't Vulcans, naturally, they would be emotionally compromised. Spock helped raise you and Bryce, so you both know how to control your emotions."

Madison came to a startling conclusion. "Wait. So what you're saying is…"

"I'm leaving _you_ in charge, Maddie."


	10. Command

"Maddie? Hello?" Kirk waved his hand in front of his teenage daughter's disbelieving eyes. _Captain? Of the Enterprise? No…way…_

"No," she finally declared. "You're not going. I'm not letting you."

Kirk was taken aback. "You've wanted to captain the Enterprise since you were little! Here's your opportunity- Take it. That's an order."

Madison shook her head. "I wanted to be just like you when I was younger. I still do. But you're not going. I won't let you take that risk. Besides," she added. "This is _your_ ship." Maddie grabbed Kirk's arm. "You have to stay here."

Kirk was dangerously close to changing his mind, to stay on the Enterprise, to call off the rescue mission. He chewed on his lip and shrugged away his daughter's arm. "End of discussion. I am going, and you are taking charge." Kirk strode off towards the beaming pads.

Maddie followed him closely. "What good will it do if we lose _two_ of Starfleet's best officers? This is suicide, Dad! How can you just leave when the Enterprise needs you? When _I_ need you?"

Kirk turned around on the beaming pad. Regret shimmered in his eyes.

She was so close…

"_Please_ don't go," Maddie whimpered, and felt tears well up. But she couldn't crack him.

"Energize, Mister Scott."

______________________________________________________________________

Bryce and Lyric leaned on the railing watching the excited students fill the Enterprise. Ly, having been medically trained to read subtle differences in behavior and manner, noticed that her companion's hands were clenched around the rail, and his eyebrows were knit with the anxiety that clouded his chocolate-brown eyes.

The pair was unaware that someone was watching them from the shadows: even Bryce's sharp hearing didn't pick up the footsteps close by. He had other things on his mind.

"So," Bryce turned to Lyric. "Do you think Maddie's planning a rescue mission for Spock?"

Ly pondered that for a moment. "Knowing Maddie? Probably. Kirk most likely warned her _not_ to do anything stupid." She paused, itching to say more. "You ok, Ginger?"

Bryce closed his eyes and backed away from the railing. "Not really, Ly, but I'm much better now that I'm away from-" he broke off as a pink force rammed him into the ground, taking all the breath from his lungs.

"BRYCEEEY!"

"-Claire," Bryce moaned, finishing his sentence.

Claire wrapped her arms around Bryce's neck and squeezed hard. "I _missed_ you Brycey-kins! You wouldn't even _talk_ to me at all during that _loser's_ hearing!" she spat.

Bryce mouthed to Ly, "HELP ME!"

The young doctor swallowed nervously as she stared at the owner of the set of feet that Bryce and Claire had stopped at.

"Cadet. That is _not_ the way to treat the Enterprise's First Officer," the voice was curt and cold.

Bryce's eyes snapped open as he recognized the speaker. How could he not? He gazed upward to the best of his ability with a head cheerleader weighing him down.

Madison Kirk stared down at him. "Get up."

"Maddie, did you say _First Officer_?" Lyric queried.

Madison nodded. "Dad left me in charge while _he_ goes off to look for Spock," she shrugged.

"What?" Bryce's mouth gaped. He pushed Claire off of his back.

She sprang off of him, and Bryce stood up, straightened his back, and winced.

"Cadet Lanade," Madison addressed Claire. "Report to your post. Now."

Bryce looked his childhood friend over. There was a subtle hint of red around her eyes. She had been crying. Her jaw was set to the usual tightness for when she was around Claire. But she had a new air of confidence, with a lot of fear, he noted.

Claire flung her arms around Bryce's neck. "I _happen_ to be his _GIRLFRIEND_," she accented.

Bryce was visibly uncomfortable. _Since when?_

"You also _happen_ to be under _my_ command. Report to your post. That's an order."

Claire pouted and took her red uniform out of her bag. She gave Bryce a crushing hug. "I'll see you later," she whispered seductively, and pinched him on the rear.

Madison closed her eyes and ground her teeth. _Not if I have it _my_ way…_

Lyric's eyes widened as she looked on at her friend's shoulder.

Bryce stiffened and, wide eyed, pushed Claire away. He backed up to stand in line with his friends.

Claire huffed, spun on her heels, and raced to her post.

"She didn't," Ly stated in disbelief.

"She did," Bryce blinked, fighting for control of his mind.

Madison had missed the action. She was concentrating hard on trying not to rip Claire's throat out. "What happened?"

"She pinched Bryce's ass."

Maddie tensed and started, as if she were going to run after Claire Lanade and beat her to a bloody, nonexistent pulp.

Bryce and Lyric, sensing the sudden change, instantly grabbed Maddie's arms and held on tight.

"Relax," she sighed, losing her tension. "With any luck, she'll die a horrible, painful death. That's what always happens to the red shirts."

**HBWK/N: Sounds like someone's a little jealous! I match theme songs up to situations, or vice versa, so this love triangle goes to "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift or "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne.**


	11. Instruction

After an awkward pause, Bryce suddenly decided to voice his thoughts. _Speak your mind, if necessary. What is necessary is never unwise…_ His father had told him that.

"Were you serious?"

Madison, eyes losing some of the red tint from before,turned to him. "Clarify?" she inquired.

"About you…being captain…and making me First Officer? Were you serious?" he repeated.

Maddie nodded solemnly.

"He really made _you_ captain?" Lyric's mouth gaped. "Couldn't someone else? Scotty? Sulu? Chekov? Uhu-" She shook her head. Uhura? No way. She couldn't even hold _herself_ together now, much less a whole ship.

"All emotionally compromised. Dad had asked them. Sorry," she shrugged.

"We're _doomed_," Ly groaned, putting her head in her hands.

Maddie pursed her lips as Bones walked up, brow furrowed. "Why are we doomed?"

Bryce met the Head Physician's eyes. "Jim went off to rescue Spock, and he left Maddie in charge of the Enterprise."

Bones blinked at the news, and put his palm to his head. "We _are_ doomed!"

The young captain crossed her arms. "Thanks for the support," she sarcastically remarked.

Bryce swallowed. "So what do we do now…_captain_?"

"We have to separate from Starbase and enter warp. Ly, Bones, report to medical," Madison turned to leave.

As Maddie strode off to the bridge with Bryce on her heels, Bones turned to his daughter. "She's actually handling this quite well," he commented. "Considering she knows that Jim could wind up dead."

Lyric sighed and stared after her friends. "She's freaking terrified."

______________________________________________________________________

As Bryce trailed the new captain, only a week younger than himself, the thoughts tumbled in and out of his mind.

_Maddie? Captain?_ To give her a chance to prove herself, maybe.

_This must really be urgent…_ A sinking feeling rose from Bryce's stomach. Things must have gotten worse…

_Taking my father's place as First Officer?_ This new thought almost stopped him in his tracks. A lump formed in his throat. _No…_ Could he handle it?

They had quickly changed out of their Academy uniforms and into their Starfleet ones. Bryce had felt relieved to be wearing his customary blue shirt again. Madison had had a slightly emotional moment; she couldn't wear her blue shirt, since she was now on command. The new yellow shirt wasn't as…right.

The pair had made it to the lift that would take them to the bridge.

Madison turned to Bryce. "Tell no one where my father went. If anyone asks, he was called on an emergency by Starfleet. They may not trust us, but hold your ground if they get suspicious or question our authority." She entered the lift, and Bryce followed her. She stood in such silence that Bryce couldn't help but wonder if this really was the Maddie he knew and loved.

The lift was about to reach the bridge. Unexpectedly, Madison stopped it. She turned to her mildly confused friend. "You do know, if my dad doesn't come back within three days, we're going out looking for the both of them."

Bryce couldn't help letting a wry grin slide onto his face. "You bet, Captain Maddie."

She nodded and started up the lift again. It reached the bridge, and Maddie took a deep breath. "Ladies and gentlemen, I hav- whoa!" In the middle of her address on the crew, Maddie had tripped over the landing between the lift and the bridge, and had fallen flat on her face. Fuming, she picked her head up.

The crew on the bridge chuckled quietly to themselves, except for Uhura, who looked on in sympathy. Bryce, trying not to laugh, held a hand out to the 'floored' captain. "Smooth," he sniggered quietly. "Walk much?"

A slightly trembling Madison pursed her lips and took the hand. Bryce could tell that she was on the verge of tears. Losing his grin, he gently brushed his fingertips to her temple. Her mind came into his, and Bryce empathized with her. _Well, that could have gone better._ _How embarrassing! What a way to make a first impression; now they'll never take me seriously!_ She thought irately.

"It'll be alright," Bryce whispered. "They know you. Go on. You can do this."

Maddie smiled gratefully, and rose from the floor. "Ladies and gentlemen, as I was saying, my father left me in charge of the Enterprise while he is out temporarily. Bryce will be the Science and First Officer. Resume." She casually stalked over to the captain's chair, sighed, and sat down.

Bryce took his new spot at the Science station. He examined the controls and mechanics. They took his breath away. Had Spock stroked these same keys when someone asked him to solve a problem for them? Or had he not needed them? He glanced over at his mother, who smiled reassuringly.

Hikaru Sulu cocked his head. "Permission to speak freely?"

Maddie nodded. "I welcome it, Mister Sulu."

"Really? Then, are you serious? _You_? How old are you?"

"Seventeen, Mister Sulu. How old are _you_?" Maddie retorted.

"I'm forty. Why did Kirk leave _you_ in charge?"

"He told me he already asked you, and you all said," Maddie addressed Sulu and Chekov, "You were emotionally compromised."

Sulu blinked. "I…I thought…"

Madison's cold gaze met his. "You thought someone else would take charge? That someone is me. You thought wrong." She turned to the rest of the crew. "Carry on. Separate from the Starbase." And the Enterprise was separated. It felt good to see things carried out by her crew.

"Mister Sulu, let's go."

The crew braced themselves for warp, but, while Bryce watched out the window, the stars did not stretch into the blue lines they always did. He heard Sulu let out a choking noise that sounded strangely like "Uh-oh."

"Deja wu, eh, Sulu?" Checkov jeered.

Sulu reddened. "I…have no idea what's wrong."

The whole crew on the bridge, with Uhura as an exception, chuckled. They, minus Maddie and Bryce, had seen this happen before, eighteen years ago.

"Have you disengaged the external inertial dampener?" they all chorused, quoting Spock.

Bryce caught Maddie's worried gaze, and they whipped their heads to the communications station.

Uhura did not try to hide the tears running down her face as the crew chortled at Sulu's deeply red face as he fixed his error. Bryce could tell that the memory was bittersweet, for it involved the Vulcan she missed greatly.

Bryce locked eyes with the young captain, asking silently for approval, which was granted with a slight nod. The crew shut up as he rose from his father's chair and strode across the bridge, ignoring all who looked on.

Except two.

He calmly gazed around, daring anyone to make fun or laugh, and gave his sobbing mother a hug. Uhura accepted the comfort gratefully, and her thoughts were miserable.

_I am so scared for him! And what will happen to you if he doesn't…doesn't… You're so strong to have this on you and keep a straight face!_

"Shh," Bryce whispered soothingly, although Uhura hadn't spoken aloud. He rose, straightened his uniform, and returned to his station.

Madison resumed directing the crew.

"Mister Sulu, take two. Let's go."

And the Enterprise warped off into the depths of space.


	12. More Dreams

Spock was being dragged through a door again. He was thrown to the ground in front of an odd contraption. Yet another torture, he knew. _What now?_

For the first time, Spock's captor stepped into the light. Spock's eyebrow raised; the creature walked on two legs, and two arms hung at its side. A pair of…antlers, it seemed, sprouted out of the top of its head. The skin was camouflage in color and rough in texture. The beak split into a grin at the Vulcan's confusion.

"Greetings, Spock," the voice commented. "You seem perplexed. Do you know what I am?"

"You are a Gilligan," Spock clearly replied. "Named for the twentieth-century Earth television situation comedy Gilligan's Island; about the shipwrecked tour boat, the small Minnow, and its seven passengers-"

"Enough," the Gilligan cut him off. "Your knowledge of Earth history is…extensive. It must come from being half human." When Spock was not visibly fazed, the Gilligan pursed his beak. "In any case, my name is Jiando. And you have a message."

_A message?_

Spock raised his eyebrow once more as Jiando left the room, closing the door tightly behind him. He knew they were watching him; but from where? He was intrigued in his search, and, very un-Vulcanlike, did not notice when the machine behind him began to whir.

"Dad?"

Spock froze at the adolescent voice that seemed to issue from the mechanism. Slowly, he turned to face the device. He recognized the two beings in the hologram projected from the contraption and caught his breath.

"Spock? Where are you? Everyone is worried sick! What happened? Why don't we get your transmissions?" Uhura's voice was desperate, and the hologram's eyes brimmed with tears.

The hologram of Bryce turned to Uhura and gave her a sympathetic glance. "Dad? We need you! No one wants to be First Officer with you gone." Bryce's hologram swallowed. "Jim is tempted to come and get you, but he knows that it'll be no good if _two_ of Starfleet's top officers were missing."

_Actually thinking his actions through? That doesn't sound like the Captain _I_ know…_

He didn't care about the rest of the message's content; he more carefully listened to the concerned voices.

There was a subtle, yet detectable, difference in each.

Spock started to shake. Either the Gilligans were very effective in their recreations of voices, or his attuned senses were dulling, and Spock had a feeling that it was the latter.

"It's…not…real. It's…not real. It's not real. IT'S NOT REAL!" he sobbed. Trembling, the Vulcan sank to the floor, head in hands. He had never felt more alone.

______________________________________________________________________

Far away, a seventeen-year-old First Officer woke, whimpering, with a jolt.

______________________________________________________________________

The Gilligans were bemused. How in the galaxy, in Spock's weakened state, could he have picked up that difference? This was the second time, maybe, they had used his loved ones against him…

The shaking Spock was being pulled back to the Water Room. He was trying to listen to the intercom; he had heard something about his craft…another- what? There was no one else on his craft; as far as he knew, it was still floating about in space. The Gilligans had beamed him here.

Spock was shoved inside the room. He did not rise off the floor; rather sighed and put his head against the steel wall. A strange sound, an out of place sound, reached his pointed ears: The door was being opened again. Spock got up, curious.

A new figure was being shoved through the door. Humanoid, if not human, as red blood was spat to the floor. The being must have put up a good fight to evade capture, but, obviously, to no avail. It limped through the shadows to the tiny area where Spock stood. It blinked, and recognition came over the handsome but bloody face. Blue eyes squinted, brain making sure that they were right. Spock straightened and folded his hands behind his back.

"Spock?" The voice was familiar…

_No…_

"Captain?"

Jim's face burst into a huge grin. "Spock! That _is_ your annoying monotone!"

Spock's face made the closest thing he could to a wry smile at Jim's attempt to lighten the mood.

"So, buddy, what exactly _are_ these bastards?"

"Gilligans," Spock answered simply.

"Like Gilligan's Island? The old sitcom?"

"Precisely, Captain."

Jiando's voice came over the intercom. "No small talk," in an undertone, "God, I hate humans." The metallic buzzer sounded, and Spock turned to Jim.

"When the cold water comes on, open your mouth." _As if that would be a difficulty._ Spock braced himself.

Kirk cocked his head. "Why-?"

He didn't have time to finish asking when a monstrous burst of flaming water hit his skin. Kirk screamed and swore, while Spock grit his teeth.

The fire changed to ice, and Kirk, nearly numb with pain, remembered the Vulcan's advice and opened his mouth. The water beat its way down his throat, quenching a thirst he didn't realize he had.

The torrential pounding ceased, and Kirk drew in a painful breath. The two men were collapsed on the ground, hair dripping into faces.

"You know," Kirk gasped. "For once, I'm _glad_ they ripped my shirt off." When Spock looked as bewildered as he could, Kirk explained. "The other you told me that I got my shirt ripped off _all_ the time in his universe!" He smiled. "To be honest, I'd rather do it myself; know what I mean?"

"Yes, Jim." Spock had finally gotten his breath back.

"At least I nicked these," Jim held out two Starfleet emblems. One had the Command symbol, and the other bore the Science mark. His companion took a sharp breath.

"How-" Spock mused, reaching for his emblem.

Jim shrugged. "No big deal. No need to thank me. Your shirt, ripped to shreds, by the way, was thrown in the corner. I kind of landed next to it, while I was trying to kill these bastards, and got time to unhook it. I got mine off later. How long have you been here? I mean, I _told_ Maddie that we lost your transitions a few days ago…" He shook his head. "We were worried as hell, man."

Spock hesitated, which occurred to Jim as _very_ un-Spock. "I have been here for two days," the Vulcan replied. "I apologize for concerning you all."

_Two days?_ "Really? Only two? What happened the rest of the time?"

Before Spock could respond, bulky Gilligans entered the room to drag the two Starfleet officers off. Down the hall, Kirk and Spock were forced into yet another room, or rather, Kirk was forced, while Spock had been through this before, or was too weak to fight. The room was rather circular, and the ceiling ended to a point. Two mattresses, instead of one, Spock noted, seemed to have been flung inside. He sat down on one of them; it didn't matter which. Jim paced around, muttering about 'those Gilligan bastards.'

The door slid open, and Jiando, the head Gilligan, slid inside with two escorts. One carried a tray of food.

"It is an honor to have you staying with us, Captain Kirk," Jiando expressed.

"Wish I could say the same."

"However, you are not who we need to speak to. Spock. You must be ravenous after a week with us, and three before that while you were on your assignment." Jim opened his mouth to interject, but the Gilligan cut him off. "We have our sources to know how Spock was on a mission, which is why it was so easy to get his ship's coordinates last week."

Jim's eyes widened, and he turned to Spock. "A week? You told me two days!"

"It was not wise to distress you at the time the question was posed."

Jiando interrupted. "Good God, shut up! Spock, we have come to offer you a meal, to keep your strength up." His companion held out the tray.

Spock knit his brow and stared at the food. After a little while, he looked up at Jiando. "Clever," he began. "On trying to hide it. This food is tainted. It will kill me in three days, maximum, won't it?"

Jiando straightened. "Presume what you will. Nonetheless, this is yours, and yours alone." He glared pointedly at Jim, who blinked innocently. The Gilligan signaled to his companion, who set down the tray in the corner, and the three creatures departed.

The two officers stood in silence for a while. "What's for breakfast?" Jim broke the silence.

Spock seemed as puzzled as he could. "Breakfast, Jim?"

"Yeah. I think I'll have an omelet, maybe a waffle."

"Your purpose for sarcasm escapes me. They do not give us breakfast here."

They stayed in silence for a while longer.

"Well," Jim arched his back to crack it. "At least we have a window." He gazed out at the stars that glittered on the walls. As he watched, a ship came out of warp in front of him. He gasped; this was the ship he had proudly been the captain of for eighteen years. The USS Enterprise. He was about to turn around gleefully to declare to Spock that their loyal crew had found them, and they were going to get out of here, when Spock spoke up.

"It is not a window," he sighed with a heavy heart. "It is a torture. The wall shows you what you most want. For instance, I see the Enterprise and her crew, Nyota, Bryce, Adonis, Amanda, Madison, Lyric…even Doctor McCoy. I do miss his temper. I see Vulcan…" Spock's voice faded as he thought of his home planet and…

"Your mother?" Kirk whispered.

"Yes," Spock replied, equally as softly. "And up until now, you were also among those faces."

"I feel so loved."

"Captain? May I ask a personal query?" When Kirk nodded, Spock continued. "What do you see?"

"Me? Pretty much the same, only a lot more women."

"Typical."

"Shut up. I also see someone really shadowy; he looks a lot like me. I'm guessing it's my dad. I also see Maddie…a lot. Like when she's two, five, eight, thirteen…Bryce is there too…those two are always together, huh?" Kirk wiped his eyes on his arm; there was a salty film covering his eyes. _Uh-uh. No way._ "Starfleet captains don't cry."

______________________________________________________________________

Madison Kirk woke with a start in her room on the Enterprise. Her screwdriver fell out of her hand; she had fallen asleep at her workbench. The wristbands were almost complete…almost.

Maddie got up and looked in the mirror. Her eyes were red, and tears trickled down her face.

"Maybe Starfleet captains don't cry, but their daughters do."

**HBWK/N: You'll meet Adonis (Ado for short!) and Amanda in the next chapter! I promise! Scout's honor!**


	13. Convinced

Bryce couldn't get back to sleep. "Dammit, dad! Why does this happen to you?" he muttered.

He checked the clock; one am. Bryce sighed. He hadn't used the Internet in a while… Maybe he should see how things were doing and update his status…

As soon as Bryce logged on, a chat window popped up. The name at the top read 'Adonis Uhura.' Bryce grimaced and checked who else was on. Nobody, except 'Amanda Uhura,' but she was probably playing a video game or something.

The chat window flashed again. _Hey, bro! What's happening? Hear you're back in space. Tell the parentals I say hi!_

_God, I hate fourteen-year-olds._ Bryce thought. _I'm fine, Ado,_ he replied. _I'll tell Mom you send your regards._

Normally, the conversations between Bryce and his younger brother went something like this:

Ado: So, remind me _again_ why you didn't take a last name? _I_ did, and I'm cool with it.

Bryce: For the thousandth time, _my_ name just sounds…weird with a last name. Besides, I want to join Starfleet and be on the Enterprise's crew.

Ado: And what's your point? I see nothing wrong with having a goddamned _last name_.

Bryce: My point is, there is already an Uhura on this ship. It would be so weird having two.

Ado: What about-

Bryce: Do NOT say Dad. Dad doesn't have a last name either.

Ado: Yeah, but Mom is formally called 'Mrs. Spock.' Lol, Bryce Spock! XDD

Bryce: It's not funny!

And so it would go on with his immature younger brother. Bryce looked up when the chat window flashed.

_Why just Mom? What about Dad?………………Are they in a fight or something?_

_No…Dad's…away._

_What's wrong, bro?_

_Huh? Nothing's wrong._

_Don't lie to me._

_I'm not lying!_

_You are too._

_How can Amanda stand to live on the same _planet _as you?_

_Duh, we're twins._

_-,-' Really, Ado? Really?_

_?????_

_Using the 'we're twins' card on me?_

_OK NOW YOU'RE JUST CHANGING THE SUBJECT!_

_Am not! How's basketball going?_

_SEE! YOU ARE TOO! Bryce! Stop shielding me like I'm some little kid! I can handle whatever it is you're trying to prevent me from hearing!_

_Maybe, maybe not, but either way, you'd probably blurt it out to all of your friends at school._

Bryce sat back and stared at the glass with the keys in satisfaction. He'd nailed him.

…_True. You've got a point. But still, TELL ME!_

In his dorm at his boarding school on Earth, Ado clenched his hands. He hated when his older brother tried to shield him from all of the important stuff. Three years difference, big deal. No need to act like he was Mom and Dad's little hero; that he could just handle things on his own without help. _But wait…_ He reminded himself with glee. He _did_ have help up there…

_Later, Ado. Please._

_You still like Maddie?_

_O.o What?_

_You heard me._

_Technically-_

_OH YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! YOU READ THE DAMN IM! OK?_

Bryce grinned at his baby brother's frustration. Logic, he figured, was a tool that his brother had, but almost never seemed to use. He lost his grin as Ado replied.

_Do you like her, or don't you?_

Adonis's door opened to his dorm, and a slender figure slipped inside. Her skin was a shade or two darker than her brothers, and her bright brown eyes twinkled in the dark. She was named for her father's mother who perished when Vulcan imploded.

Amanda peered over her twin's shoulder, reading the messages. "He's treating you like a little kid again?"

Adonis nodded. He wasn't surprised that she was here. She knew when he was frustrated. "He's lying to me," he frowned. "I need to crack him."

"Let me on," Amanda all but pushed Ado out of the way.

_Bryce? It's Amanda. What happened to Dad? Please tell _me_, at least. You know _I_ can keep a secret._

"Hey!" Ado growled.

Amanda shrugged. "What? It's true."

_Honestly, Ado? Posing as Amanda? Man, I never knew you could be that low…_

_Bryce. You have a choice. Either tell me where Dad is, or spill whether you like Maddie or not._

_Ok, maybe you _are _Amanda. Ado would just keep abusing caps lock. _Bryce chewed on his lip.

In spite of his frustration, Ado had to smile. "I _do_ abuse caps lock, don't I?"

_Bryce? You still there?_ Amanda slid her fingers over the glass keyboard.

_Yeah. I'm trying to decide which one to tell you…_

_Tell us both to make it easier. One of them only needs to be YES or NO, and we'll leave you alone about it. Well, _I'll_ leave you alone about it. Can't say the same for Ado._

"Crap," Bryce muttered. His little sister always knew how to back him into a corner and say what she wanted him to.

_Yes. Happy now?_

"I knew it!" Ado shouted happily.

Bryce knit his brow; he had felt Adonis's triumph. That's weird…

_And Dad kind of got…um…_

_Don't tell me he's dead._

_No…well, not at the minute._

_???_

_He kind of got kidnapped…_

_WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?_

_I knew it would be too much for both of you to handle._ Bryce was infuriated with himself for letting them talk him into this. He didn't notice when the door to his room slid open.

_Are you going to look for him? How's Jim handling it? And, dare I ask, what about Mom?_

_Jim went to look for him, and Maddie said that if he doesn't come back in three days, we're going. Mom…_

_Is a wreck?_

_Basically._

"Bryce?" The miserable voice made Bryce whirl around. Madison stood near the door in a t-shirt and flannels, her pajamas. Her eyes were bright red, and tears still rolled down her face.

Bryce leaped out of his chair. "What happened?" he inquired as Maddie wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. "Shh…"

"Now I know how you feel!" she sobbed.

Bryce was confused. He detached himself from the young captain, raced over to the intercom, and called a room.

______________________________________________________________________

Lyric McCoy was having a very pleasant dream about tribbles devouring Billy when the intercom rang and interrupted it.

Grumbling, she strode over to the intercom and pressed the button. "Hullo?"

"Ly? I need your help!" Bryce's panicked voice came through the speaker.

"Ginger. It is two o'clock in the morning. This had better be good."

"More like bad. Maddie's a _wreck_! She came to my room and started crying like crazy! I need you to help calm her down!" Silence… "Ly?"

A knock echoed through Bryce's room. The door slid open to reveal a panting Lyric. "Sorry I couldn't get here sooner!"

Maddie was sitting on Bryce's bed, hiccuping and still crying. She clutched a compact disc in her hands. As Lyric went to sit next to her, she passed the CD to Bryce.

Confused, Bryce inserted the CD into his computer. It uploaded, to more locations than one…

Madison's dream played on two computers that night.

Bryce's eyes were welling up, and the two girls sitting on his bed were sobbing.

______________________________________________________________________

"Why in the name of hell did he send this to us? He even _said_ we couldn't handle it!" Adonis rammed his fists into the desk. His sister was curled up into a ball in the corner, sobbing quietly.

"Daddy?" she whimpered. "Jim?"

Ado didn't try to hide his despair. He cried openly and slammed his head on top of his hands. He started to hiccup. Adonis brought his head up, and typed six words in the chat box.

_What the hell were you thinking?_

The tone for the chat window alerted Bryce. _What?_

_Sending that to us. I thought we 'couldn't handle it.'_

_Handle what?_

_That video._

Bryce's heart skipped a beat.

_Uh-oh. You saw Maddie's dream, didn't you?_

_Yeah. Now Amanda's crying in the corner, and my tears are splashing on the keyboard. Thanks SO MUCH, bro._

And with that, Ado logged off.

Bryce sighed.

"You know," Maddie hiccuped. "We _are_ going to look for them now, considering Spock probably only has three days to live anyway." She swallowed. "I just want to visit someone first on Earth."

"Why?" Lyric and Bryce spoke in unison.

"To see if this is a good idea."

"I thought you hated all of your foster homes…" Lyric ventured. "Who?"

"My mother."


	14. Denied

Bryce sat cross-legged on his bed looking at his photo album. Maddie had left a few minutes before. "We beam down in ten."

He had finally turned to the second page. It showed a seven-year-old Bryce's head staring cross-eyed up at three-year-old Amanda pulling his hair. Bryce smiled. He vaguely remembered that day. Amanda had demanded to sit on her older brother's shoulders. Bryce had ended up regretting his agreement when Amanda nearly yanked his hair out of his head.

The third page showed Bryce at four holding a tiny bundle; less than a year old. Bryce wore the look of a wounded puppy as he stood at the edge of a cliff. The angle of the picture made it seem like Bryce was about to drop his little brother off the side of the cliff. _What do you mean I can't drop him?_ It made Bryce chuckle. Sometimes, he regretted _not_ dropping his brother that day…

A knocking sound rang out through Bryce's room.

Bryce closed his photo album and opened the door. "Sorry to bother you at this late hour, Bryce. I just…was wondering how you were you doing." Jeremy Spindler looked at his feet and blushed red. "This wouldn't be the first time I've deprived you from sleep, huh?" he remembered the shuttlecraft.

"Nah," Bryce grinned. "I was already up. What do you need?"

"Just checking up on you, like I said," Jeremy straightened his red shirt. "See if you need any help."

Bryce flashed a wry smile. "Thanks, Jeremy." _Wait a minute…._ Maybe there _was_ something Jeremy could do to help…

"Jeremy…Can I ask you a favor?"

______________________________________________________________________

Maddie had gone back to sleep after the ordeal. She had finished the wristbands, and was modifying a pair of boots. An idea had occurred to her, so she curled up under her covers.

The circular cell blurred into view. Two humanoid shapes sat on two mattresses.

"Spock, be logical! If you eat the food, how long do you have?"

"Approximately three days, Captain."

"And if you don't?"

"The same," the Vulcan sighed.

"Then hear me out." Kirk wasn't going to give up. "If you eat, you told me it would give you one day of nourishment."

"And then use the next two days to agonize my organs until it kills me."

"Well, at least you get the strength! Eat. It's the better choice." Kirk grinned. "The _logical_ choice."

Spock held the Captain's gaze for a few moments, and turned to the abandoned tray in the corner. "Very well."

After Spock had ingested the food, he laid down on his mattress and turned to face the wall. "I intend to get rest before the pain sets in." And the Vulcan was asleep.

Kirk leaned his head against the wall, gazing at his heart's desires reflected in the glass-paint. "I'll find a way to get us out of this, buddy," he vowed. "I promise." Kirk sighed, curled up on his makeshift bed, and fell asleep.

Maddie saw nothing but dark fear, felt nothing but hunger. _How I'll keep my promise… I have yet to figure out._

Madison's heart skipped a beat. She was in her father's head!

"Dad!" she hissed.

The thoughts broke. "Maddie?"

"Don't wake yourself up."

"But how did you…?" Kirk thought, bewildered.

"Empathy link, Dad. But that's not the point. Where did you go when you beamed off the Enterprise?

"Spock's abandoned vessel."

"And the coordinates?" Madison prompted.

Kirk gave her the coordinates. "But you shouldn't come to get us. I'll find a way out of here."

Maddie admired her father's courage, but she denied his protest. "If you'll find a way out, why haven't you done so already?" she retorted. "We'll be there."

"How will you get here? Don't beam-"

"Dad. I have my craft in the hangar. It's tricked out!" she chuckled. "Besides, I know better than to beam to Spock's ship. We're coming for you."

Kirk had no choice but to agree. "All right. Just be careful. Make sure no one gets killed."

"Okay, Dad." Maddie was prepared to wake up and get dressed in casual clothes to visit her mother.

"And Maddie?" Kirk swallowed. "You know you've got three days, right? If you get here any later…" he couldn't finish. "Just get here, okay?"

Madison's heart wrenched. "Will do."

______________________________________________________________________

Lyric quickly got dressed in her jeans and a white blouse. She grinned; this was much more comfortable than her skirt and medical shirt. She brushed her hair and shook her head around. She was looking forward to meeting Maddie's mom for some reason…

Ly stepped towards the door and slid her finger across the panel. The door slid open, and she gasped. Her father was standing in the doorway.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" Bones growled sternly.

Lyric's cheeks flushed. "Beaming down to earth with Maddie and Bryce…"

"Why?"

"Having a chat with Maddie's mom."

Bones was taken aback. "Sophia? Why now?"

"We were younger…"

"That never stopped any of you before. Why now?" the doctor repeated.

Ly kept her mouth shut.

"Dammit, Ly! I'm a doctor, not a mind reader!" Bones snarled.

Lyric gazed at her father with such sorrow, that Bones understood.

"You have a choice to make, then." he murmured. "Either beam down now, or go on the rescue mission, and I think you'll be needed more on the rescue," he pointed out.

Lyric sighed. "You're right. I'll stay."

"I'm not doing this to be mean. I just don't want you getting _too_ hurt."

"I know, Daddy." _Doesn't mean I have to like it._

______________________________________________________________________

When Maddie met Bryce at the transporter room, she was surprised to see Jeremy Spindler behind the controls.

"He can beam us down without leaving a trace of where we're going. Scotty might be able to pick it up, but nobody else," Bryce explained.

"Logical."

"Where's Ly?"

"She got caught sneaking out."

"Typical."

"Not really. We were caught a few times, remember?" Madison reached behind her back and grabbed her right elbow. Her baby blue blouse was the color of her eyes, and her dark navy jeans fanned out over black converse sneakers.

Bryce, dressed casually in jeans torn in the knee and a black t-shirt, stepped over to the beaming pad, but paused. "Where exactly are we going?"

Maddie consulted her PDA. "San Francisco, a mile or two from the Academy."

"You guys ready? Jeremy piped up from the controls.

"I've always wanted to say this," Maddie grinned.

"Energize."


	15. Meeting

Seconds later, in San Francisco, California, two figures shimmered into existence.

The shorter one consulted a small device in her palm. "The address is 15 Printemps street." Maddie grinned.

"What?" Bryce cocked his head.

"Printemps means 'spring' in French," Maddie chuckled. "How pleasant."

Bryce rolled his eyes, and followed his friend up the boulevard. "Why are we coming here again? We could be there by tomorrow."

"Consolation."

"We're turning eighteen in a week. Do you _want_ to die before you're able to drive?"

"You sound like you don't want to rescue your dad."

For once, Bryce had nothing to say in response.

The pair turned off of Hiver Road and onto Printemps street. Maddie stared up the road, counting the houses. "It's that one."

Bryce followed her pointing finger to a brick and slated house. It was a pretty thing, with baby blue shutters on the windows, which blended nicely with the creamy beige slates. A brick chimney rose from the back, a patio set was laid out by a pool. The front was shaded by a tree and had shrubs and flowers at every orifice. Window baskets held a multitude of color, and the wooden door looked inviting.

"Serene," Bryce nodded. "Must be jealous to have not grown up here," he taunted Maddie.

"Yeah," she murmured, which took Bryce by surprise. He had expected her to shut him up.

The duo walked up the footpath, stepping over the flowers that stood in their paths. Madison stood at the door and swallowed. She held up her fist to knock.

"Wait."

Madison turned to her friend, who had stopped her.

"Are you sure about this, Maddie? I mean, you've never even met her. Will she even believe you?" Anxiety shone in Bryce's brown eyes.

"I've got a feeling she will." Maddie grinned wryly.

Tentatively, she rapped three times on the oak door.

The door handle buckled inward, and the entry stood ajar. A small boy stood in the open frame. "Can I help you?" he inquired. His sandy-flecked hair was cut short, and his blue-gray eyes sparkled with an air of youth.

"Is Sophia there?" Maddie queried.

The boy grinned, showing two missing teeth. "Sure! I'll call her!" He turned about and raced back in, shouting, "Mom! Mom! Two tall people are here for you!"

Maddie caught her breath as she saw a pair of legs cloaked in jeans descending down the stairs. A white blouse came into view, along with slender arms and a cascading head of curly blonde hair. A heart-shaped face came into focus. Pink lips shaped in a good-humored smile, a normal nose, and bright blue eyes.

Bryce raised his eyebrows. Maddie elbowed him in the ribs.

The little boy stumbled into the foyer. "Mama," he piped up, pulling on his mother's blouse. "She looks like you!"

Sophia glanced at the two younger individuals. "Ross," she twittered. "Can you go see if your sisters took their baths for me?"

Ross ran off with a cry of, "Sure, Mom!"

She stepped lightly over to the door. "Please, come in," Sophia invited.

Bryce glanced over at his friend. Maddie had blushed scarlet. "Umm…" she started. "I'm Madison."

"It's very nice to meet you, Madison…"

"Kirk. Madison Ada Kirk."

Sophia's eyes widened. "So you didn't die after all," she murmured after a pause. A grin. "Well, Madison, I suppose we have a lot to talk about." Sophia stepped back and put her hand on her chin. "Would you look at that? He didn't kill her..."

She shook her head. "Let's head into the kitchen, shall we?" She turned to Bryce guiltily. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name…"

"Bryce."

Sophia stared at him for a moment and mouthed his name, as if trying to remember his face from somewhere. Her gaze drifted over his ears. "Are you part Vulcan?"

Bryce nodded. "One fourth," he answered, which seemed to satisfy Sophia.

"The kitchen, please, you two."

______________________________________________________________________

An island and barstools stood in the middle of the spacious kitchen. Madison looked around at the ornate moldings above the oven and microwave. She glanced at the painting in one corner, and the statuettes of things on a shelf.

Her mother had taken a seat at the island, so Maddie shyly did the same. Bryce followed swiftly.

Madison picked up a fake banana and twisted it in her hands as Sophia looked on.

"So… What brings you here?" Sophia began, but was interrupted by a tiny voice.

"Mom! Anna and Casey took their baths, and now we're bored!" Ross stood in the playroom that was connected to the kitchen. His arms were crossed sternly, and a little girl, maybe four years old, peeked out from behind his legs.

Bryce smiled, and departed his place. "I've got this," he chuckled brightly as he strolled over to the ten-year-old, who looked up at him.

"Where'd you get those ears?" Ross furrowed his brow. "They're _weird_."

"Oh," Bryce growled playfully. "I'm going to get you for that…!" he reached out towards the young boy, who screamed and ran. Bryce turned back and winked before pursuing the chase.

Madison had to smile. "So…you have three kids?" she ventured.

Sophia smiled. "Four," she corrected.

"Right…" Maddie murmured. "Four."

Sophia hesitantly stretched her hand out to lay it on her oldest daughter's. "What is it you wanted to tell me?" she prompted. "It must be important if you're coming to see me now."

"It all started when Bryce had a dream where his father was kidnapped, or, rather, Vulcan-napped…" She went into detail about the dreams, the tortures, Kirk, Commander Angler, and their rescue plan. She was sure Bryce was listening, and saw him flinch out of the corner of her eye a few times as he was tackled by Sophia's three children. Her mother listened in silence until she was finished.

"What should we do?" _What should _I_ do?_

"Well," Sophia decided after a pause, but Maddie stopped her.

"How are you being so calm about this?" she reproached her mother, desperately pulling her hands through her ponytail.

Sophia leaned in to whisper, "I have three young children, all under the age of ten. If I start blowing things out of proportion, then they will be scared out of their wits. As a mother, I need to control my emotions to protect my children."

Maddie nodded in understanding.

"As I was saying," Sophia continued. "You need to do what you feel is the right thing to do. Follow your heart, and nobody can convince you to do otherwise."

"But what does that mean I should choose?"

"I think you know already, and came to me for confirmation. But I must warn you," Sophia's voice dropped. "There is a very likely chance that one of the five of you is going to perish." Sophia blinked as her daughter's jaw gaped. "I have premonitions every so often, Maddie, like I knew you were going to be great like your father." She lowered her voice, talking to herself. "Like I knew that little boy was going to survive…"

Her mother smiled softly, and Maddie followed her gaze to the playroom. Anna, the four-year-old sat on Bryce's back, while Casey, the eight-year-old, tugged on his brown-ginger hair. Ross sat off to the side, gleefully rocking back and forth as his sisters attacked the newcomer.

Madison wasn't sure which boy she meant; her own son, or Madison's friend.

Maddie expected Bryce to have some form of painful contortion on his face, but he was laughing and smiling with the children. She wasn't sure if she'd _ever_ seen him look this happy or having so much fun.

"He's come back strong," she whispered again. "I never thought I would see him again either way though…" She shook her head. "Your boyfriend is great with the children," Sophia chuckled.

"What?" Maddie turned beet red. "Bryce…he's not my boyfriend. Besides," she muttered and dropped her gaze. "He already has a girlfriend."

A new sound pricked her ears; the front door was opening.

The children abandoned their new playmate and raced towards the sound with cries of, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!"

Bryce exhaled, relieved, and let his head flop forward onto the carpet. His neck was rubbed red from where one of the kids had hung on it.

"Sophia? Where are you?" an unfamiliar voice rang out.

"In the kitchen, David," his wife called. "We have guests."

Bryce instantly jerked up his head, rose stiffly from the floor, and arched his back. You really should not be lying facedown on the carpet when the master of the house comes home…

David Ericson was a tall man, about six foot two; an inch taller than Bryce. He walked with a businesslike manner, for he worked in an office downtown. He sported a head of dark brown locks that hung to the tops of his ears. He was a kind man, and always had a tie with something fun about it; whether it be tiny pumpkins on Halloween, little hearts on Valentine's day, or turkey tracks on Thanksgiving. Today, it showed a beachlike scene, to signal the nearing end of the school year.

Maddie had almost forgotten; they would be graduating soon, and prom a week before. Prom was important to most girls, for Starfleet Academy only held it for the graduating seniors. The only reason that she remembered prom at all was because it would be just after Bryce's eighteenth birthday on the nineteenth, and just before Maddie's on the twenty-sixth. Prom was exactly halfway between the two dates.

David ducked through the doorframe with two small children clinging to his legs. He glanced at the table, where Sophia and Madison were seated, and where Bryce was leaning. His eyes widened as he took in his own wife and one who appeared to be a carbon copy.

"Who are they?" he whispered.

Sophia rose and walked over to her husband. "You remember I told you, before we got married, that I had a daughter?" That was all she needed to say.

David's face visibly relaxed, and a smile filled his warm features. "Yes," he confirmed. He stuck out his hand. "I'm David. It's nice to meet you, Madison."

Maddie smiled and grasped his hand. _A nice, firm handshake says a lot about a person,_ he thought. _She's confident, yet a little hesitant, like she doesn't know who to trust, but she trusts her own judgement._

He turned to Bryce. "And you are?"

Bryce introduced himself and shook David's hand. He couldn't help noticing…what? Recognition? Remembrance? Pity? What did Sophia and her husband know?

"Are you hungry?" The question broke into Bryce's racing thoughts.

Madison rose, slinging her messenger bag back over her shoulder. "Actually, we were just leaving." She rummaged around for her communicator. "Hold this?" she asked Bryce.

He found himself clutching a…teddy bear. He raised an eyebrow. "A teddy bear?"

Maddie grinned mischievously, her arm consumed in the bag up to the shoulder. "Take him out," she commanded.

Bryce, feeling a sense of dread, took the bear out of the wrapper. The minute he touched the fur, he heard gasps from Sophia, David, and the children.

"Where'd he go?" Ross whimpered.

David was dumbstruck. "Ross Alexander, I do not know."

"Aha!" Maddie cried, holding her communicator. She looked around. "Wherever you are, Bryce, you can put the bear back."

Bryce obeyed, and Ross bounced over. "Can I try? I want to be invisible too!"

_Invisible?_

Maddie smiled and thanked her mother. "We have to go. Goodbye!" she called as she stepped out onto the porch.

Bryce followed and looked back. He heard Ross ask his mother a question.

"Will Bryce come back to play some more? Will he come back to visit?"

The child's plea was heartwarming, but his mother's reply sent chills down Bryce's spine. Sophia did not look at her son, but rather at the subject of conversation.

"I don't know, Ross. I hope so, but I cannot be sure."


	16. Gadgets

Lyric crossed her arms as she slumped on her bed. It wasn't fair of her dad to not let her go down to Earth. She huffed, feeling left out and alone.

Well, not completely alone…

She had not heard the door slide open, or the slight footsteps brush the carpet.

She did, however, hear the British accent in the voice that whispered in her ear, "You alright, love?"

Ly grinned, straightened her back, and turned around. The blue eyes that stared back at her were sparkling, and the short blonde hair was familiar. The boy smiled and wrapped his arms around the young doctor.

"I didn't get to see you yet, love," he murmured. "What's been happening?"

Lyric shifted her gaze, leaving him to prompt more. "I heard from Jeremy that Spock's been kidnapped, and that Captain Kirk went to look for him…"

She sighed. "Shut up, Brendan," she grumbled affectionately to her boyfriend.

Brendan laughed, and kissed her forehead. "Maddie and Bryce must be worried. Where are they?"

Seeing as there was no way of getting out of this one, Lyric flung herself into explanation. Brendan sat in silence as he listened.

"Wow," he whispered finally. "That's complicated." He looked up at Ly, who stood before him. "You know I'm going to have to come with you."

Though it wrenched Lyric's heart, she had to shake her head. "We already have it planned. The craft only has living space for three."

Brendan shrugged. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"No." Lyric shook her head. "This is something the three of us have to do." When her boyfriend looked crestfallen, she amended. "Maddie's making communications devices," she spoke quickly. "They track thoughts and speech. I could have her make you one so you stay in contact…"

Brendan instantly brightened. "All right!" he grinned. He looked so happy that Lyric had to smile.

Jeremy Spindler's voice came over the intercom. "The ducks fly at midnight."

Brendan cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "Who was that?"

Lyric was chuckling. "That's Jeremy. 'The ducks fly at midnight' is code for the fact that Maddie and Bryce are back. Come on!" She called as the door slid open.

Brendan rolled his eyes and followed the young doctor down the hall. The door to the beaming pads slid open, and three figures came into focus. Jeremy was behind the controls, Madison was sitting on the steps, and Bryce was pacing. Brendan was just in time to hear Madison sigh, "If you don't stop pacing, I'll have Jeremy beam you to Tatooine."

Bryce apparently had not heard, for he kept his steady pace. Brendan could tell he was deep in thought.

Jeremy caught sight of Lyric and Brendan and brightened up. "They're here!"

Bryce did not give any hint that he had seen them. Lyric could see him muttering hastily under his breath. She craned her ears to hear. "What does she know? Can she really predict that far into the future? Why does someone always have to die?"

Lyric blinked and shook her head. "Maddie," she ventured. "You got my message, right?"

Maddie nodded. "Of course. I had made an extra anyway. Jeremy, you go back to bed. Thanks for helping. The rest of you," she turned to Lyric and Brendan, and glanced at Bryce, still pacing. "Hold that thought." She thrust her arm out when Bryce made a turn.

Lost in his thoughts and not paying attention, Bryce didn't anticipate the sudden arm hitting his chest. He buckled backwards, and fell to the ground. He whipped his head up. An angry fire burned in his brown eyes; Lyric could almost see the metaphorical sparks. "What was that for?" he cried.

Madison glared right back at him. "You're so busy focusing on your own problems that you forgot the bigger picture," she growled. She stretched out her hand again to thump Bryce on the back of the head. "Focus."

Bryce held her gaze for a moment, then dropped his eyes. His brow scowled, and his lips pursed. His arms were draped across his knees.

"As I was saying," Maddie continued bitterly. "Follow me. I have some things to show you before we depart." She strode briskly out the door.

Brendan whipped his head back and forth, and followed Maddie out. Lyric was about to follow suit, but she realized that Bryce was still seated on the steps. His forlorn gaze looked nowhere. "Ginger? What's the matter?" She had to stretch her ears again to hear the whispered response.

"Someone is going to die."

"What?" Lyric's heart skipped a beat. "How do you know that? Have you seen into the future to know that it's true?" Her blue eyes widened as her friend shook his head.

"And I have a feeling it's going to be me."

______________________________________________________________________

Lyric and Bryce soon caught up to Brendan and Madison. "What'd we miss?" Lyric breathed.

"Nothing."

Maddie led the group to her bedroom door. She pressed a code of buttons, and turned around. "Take to mind," she warned. "You will not tell anyone what you have seen." When she got nods from everyone, she opened the door.

Bryce stepped inside and heard a metallic clang. He looked down; the floor was steel. _That's odd…_ The bedroom floors on the Enterprise were all carpeted. He glanced to his left; Lyric's face wore a puzzled guise.

Bryce then took the time to examine his surroundings. Small, whirring machines cast a blue glow on the steel barriers. Bryce saw a rectangular patch of metal on the wall. "Maddie?" He began.

She followed his gaze. "That's where my bed folds up."

"Ah." Bryce blinked. Madison's workbench stretched across a whole wall. A table stood in the center of what was once her bedroom. He stepped over to examine the gadgets displayed on the top. Three pairs of boots stood in a row next to three sets of gloves, three rubber bracelets, and four tiny devices in the shapes of tic-tacs. A device that had the appearance of a tricorder stood behind them. Phasers were lined up; Bryce had a feeling that they had more than the usual number of settings…

"Now," Maddie held her hands behind her back. "If we're going on a rescue mission, we're going to need the right tools." She gestured to the assorted objects on the table. Her hand rested over the tricorder. "First, we have this."

Lyric crossed her arms. _That little…_ "Did you steal a tricorder from the medical wing?" She was surprised when Madison shook her head.

"Nope. Fashioned this one myself." She held it up to Bryce, who backed away. "Oh, don't be a baby! It's a Vulcan detector," she explained. "It tests for copper superior to iron in the blood just by scanning." The tricorder lit up green. "Even if you're the slightest bit Vulcan, we can find out. This can pick up his trace on anything Spock has touched."

She moved on to the boots. "These are yours, Ly," Maddie grinned, holding up a pair of platforms. "Three inches off the ground, just for you."

Lyric scowled. "I won't be able to walk in those," she snapped.

Maddie shook her head again. "Not only will you be able to walk, but you'll be able to _run_. They make superspeed!" She grinned. "Bryce, yours allow you to jump seven feet in any direction; up, down, left, right, front, back, diagonal, etcetera."

Bryce blinked as he took in the sleek black leather. "What about yours?"

Maddie shrugged. "Hopefully, I won't need to use my bonus feature, but if I do, then you'll see. The things that look like the tic-tacs," she continued. "Those are the communications devices. They track words and thoughts, just in case you're in a silent situation. They go with these contact lenses," she held up the cases. "For those of us in the field, the ones in the safer ground can see through our eyes. The lens is a camera lens combined with contacts."

"The gloves are all the same." Maddie pulled on a pair to demonstrate. "Different combinations do different things. Pointer to thumb, suction cups, in case we need to climb across a ceiling. That comes out of the palm. Middle to thumb, oil slick. It shoots out of the finger cap. Ring to thumb, glove hardener, to pack a real punch. And pinky to thumb…" she swallowed.

"Two functions. If you aren't touching anything, then it just musters a forcefield in front of your hand and shoots fire out in front of it. The forcefield won't let the fire burn you. If you're touching something with your hand, like a Gilligan, or a wall of the ship, for example…" She sighed. "It releases electric signals to shut down all, or a large part of the system."

Bryce's eyes widened. "That's…"

Lyric twisted her hair in her hands. "That's insanely dangerous."

Madison nodded. "I know."

Brendan, who had been silently examining his communicator/tic-tac, spoke up. "What about those bracelets?"

"Glad you asked. They're called Osmos."

"Sounds like osmosis…" Bryce thought aloud.

"Exactly. If you finger the right letters, the first O, the M, and the last O, then your body becomes almost ghostlike. You can pass through walls, but not down through floors. You would keep falling until you're in space. Even though you're a ghost, you still need to breathe." She handed a bracelet to Lyric. "You try."

Lyric, a little frightened, pushed the O, the M, and the O on the Osmo. "What now?"

"I don't know, walk through a wall."

Ly did so, and she found herself in another room. The transition was not hard; she had seen the inside of the soundproof wall and continued to the other side. Her feet brushed carpet once more, and she wondered whose room this was…

A digital picture frame stood on the desk. As Lyric watched, the pictures changed. One was of Kirk holding a small child who Lyric guessed was Maddie. The next was of three men, two of whom appeared to be laughing.

Lyric's father stood in the right of the picture, and Maddie's was in the middle. The two appeared to be joking around; Kirk had a new badge upon his chest, it sparkled even in still life. The third was standing up ramrod straight and sported a poker face any gambler would envy. His brown eyes were emotionless, and an eyebrow was raised. The pointed ear visible could poke a hole in anything. The three friends looked much younger; maybe their mid to late twenties. Lyric smiled; her father actually looked somewhat happy.

The next picture showed Spock and Uhura on their wedding day. Kirk and Bones, the best men, stood in suits on their side. Kirk stuck out his tongue and held up a peace sign: _I knew it would happen!_ Lyric could tell that he was in for it after the snapshot.

The frame shifted, and a new picture took the old one's place. A pair of children, who could only be Maddie and Bryce, clung to a pair of legs, giggling. Yellow-sleeved arms were reaching down out of the top of the frame. Blonde hair was slightly visible between them.

Lyric froze. She had had an idea of whose room this was, but now she was sure. She drew her gaze away from the shifting picture frame to look for a shining badge…

______________________________________________________________________

When Lyric finally came back in, Maddie grinned at her. "Well?"

"That was your dad's room, wasn't it?"

Madison's grin faded, and her gaze dropped to the floor. "Yeah," she whispered. She blinked and smiled again. "I was just telling them about the clothes." She held up a pair of black jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt for Lyric.

"They're phaserproofed and fireproofed. They don't conduct electricity. That's about it," she concluded. "I'll be bringing my messenger bag with more goodies, and you can go back to sleep. We leave in an hour and a half."

______________________________________________________________________

Bryce swiftly dressed in the black shirt, jeans, and boots. He slid on the rubber bracelet and stuck the communicator in his ear. The gloves he left next to his computer with the contact lenses and his phaser. He sat down, unable to sleep. Sleeping was an attempt to avoid the inevitable. Sometimes, you had to be in a no-win scenario.

He had heard what Sophia had whispered to Madison. He had felt…a pulling in his gut, almost warning him that something had to do with him.

He stroked his fingers over the computer keys, not caring who was online and who wasn't, and entered a new status for himself. Soon, the screen read:

**Bryce**: Might not post again.

Almost instantaneously, a chat box popped up.

_What do you mean you might not post again?_

Adonis.

_I have to be honest with you, don't I?_

_What do YOU think?_

…_You still hate me?_

Ado sighed. _I could never [truly] hate you._

His older brother slumped in his chair with relief. _Good. At least I'll go with a clean conscience._

_Go where?_

_Rescue mission._

… _So you're actually going?_

_Do you want to live the rest of your life with no father and a miserable mother?_

_No. But then if you succeed, then-_

_We plan on succeeding. We have to. I just might not post again after it._

_Why?_

That single word. It had always been in his curious brother's vocabulary. 'Why is the sky blue?' 'Why am I going to daycare on Earth?' 'Why are you leaving?'

_Because, Ado. Because._

_You're afraid to tell me._

_If you're so smart, guess for yourself._

_You have a feeling you're not going to come back, right?_

_On the nose, bro._

Ado drew a breath. _Then don't go._

_I can't._

_Why?_

_Maddie and Ly can't do this alone. They can't do this without me._

_Did they tell you, or are you trying to convince yourself of this?_

…

_Well?_

_To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm being truthful to myself about that._

_Don't go._

_I have to._

_Please._

Bryce didn't reply.

_For me. And Amanda. We need you too. Do you know what this would do to _us_? We'd never be treated the same by anyone; not anyone at school, Mom, Maddie, Ly-_

_How do you know they'll survive?_

_Being hypothetical. Don't go._

_That's three times you've asked. No, Ado. I'm sorry._

_Do you have something you need to prove to everyone? Or yourself?_

The accusation stung. _I don't know anymore. We met Maddie's mom._

_What does that have to do with anything?_

_Hear me out. I heard her whisper that she has a premonition that someone's going to die, and I had a premonition myself. Like it was going to be me. And she said something else… like she knew that a little kid would survive. She seemed to recognize me, like she knew me._

_So?_

_I think that little kid was me._

_What happened?_

_I don't know. And I don't know if I'll find out._

_Dad might know. He knows everything._

_We have to GET dad first._

_So let Maddie and Ly go._

_No. I need to make sure nothing happens to them._

_Why? Who declared that they're YOUR responsibility?_

_I don't know. I just need to protect them._

_I guess there's no way of talking you out of going. Just be careful._

_I will._

_You'd better. Now how am I going to break it to Amanda?_

_You'll think of something. I know you will._

_What about mom?_

_She knows nothing._

_She'll notice you're gone._

_I don't care. This is something I have to do._

_-sigh- How will I break it to _her_?_

_You won't. She'll notice I'm gone and won't be able to stop me from going. I'll already be in warp._

_Bryce. For the last time, DON'T GO!_

_End of discussion, Ado. I leave in an hour._

_Ok. You can still TALK to me._

…_I guess… You never told me how basketball was going._

_It's fine, I suppose._

_You suppose?_

_Yeah._

_Win any games?_

_Uh-huh._

_You still point guard?_

_Yeah._

_How's Amanda's field hockey going?_

_Fine, I guess._

_How's she at goalie?_

_You know. You've seen her play._

_Do you really want to play devil's advocate for the next hour, or can I try to sleep?_

_Fine. Fine. You just…sleep. I'll see you._

_Maybe._

_In case I don't…I love you, bro._

_Love you too, Ado._


	17. Leviathan

The intercom buzzed.

Bryce rose from his bed. He had spent the past forty-five minutes staring at his ceiling, unable to sleep.

"Hullo?" he moaned, sleep-deprived.

"Bryce? It's Maddie. Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Because you sound like crap."

_I_ feel _like crap…_ Bryce thought. "Seriously, I'm fine."

"...Okay then. Can you meet us at the hangar in ten?"

"Probably less, but sure."

Bryce clicked off the intercom, and slid over to his computer, then froze.

He had caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

"I look like crap!" he muttered, running a hand through his tangled hair. He must have fallen asleep for two minutes, at least, because there were a few specks of drool on the corner of his mouth. Bryce dragged his feet across the carpet to the bathroom. He washed his face, combed his hair, and looked up into the reflective glass in front of him.

The brown eyes in the mirror gazed back.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself. "I'm so afraid…" A sharp pain issued in his stomach. Bryce snapped his eyes shut and his arms covered his stomach area. _No…_ Soon, he was retching onto the floor.

Coughing, Bryce grasped the edges of the sink tightly for support. Leaning forward, hair dangling under the faucet, he groaned pitifully. _Now what am I going to do?_

______________________________________________________________________

Doctor McCoy had heard something drop in the medical wing. He raced from his room to his office.

His daughter was bustling around.

"Ly?" She whirled around at her name. "What are you doing?"

The bag and tricorder that hung at her side were an indication of her intentions.

"You guys are actually going?" Bones whispered.

Lyric nodded. "What should I bring? I don't know how serious the injuries or illnesses will be…"

"I can help with that."

"Poison antidotes?"

Bones stroked his chin. "Take all we've got, just to be safe." He examined the shelves, and swore.

"What?"

"We're out of Tarden root."

Lyric cocked her head. "What is that for?"

"Poison antidote. It works on the really powerful ones."

"Like what?"

"There's one that eats away at your internal organs until you die of the pain."

Ly froze. "Then we need Tarden root. Now."

"Why do we…" Bones shook his head, understanding. "One of them is poisoned, aren't they?"

"Yeah."

"I'll go order some now," he cried, and galloped off.

Lyric sighed and packed some bandages and splints. She heard the door slide open, and turned to the noise.

Bryce dragged himself through the open doorframe.

"What's wrong, Ginger?"

"I don't feel too good…" Bryce groaned bluntly.

"Are you faking it?"

Bryce, as green as he looked, managed to glare at Lyric. "I would hardly call the gunk that is on my bathroom floor _fake_, Shorty."

Lyric twitched. "DAD!" She cried. "What do you do for an upset stomach?"

Doctor McCoy sprinted in. He raised an eyebrow. "Diluted escent pill."

Lyric chose the pill off the shelf, and handed it to her ailing friend, who dry swallowed it.

"Thanks," Bryce gasped, straightening up. "Do you need help?"

Lyric checked her bag. "Nope. Everything's taken care of." She turned to her father. "The Tarden root?"

Bones nodded. "Should be here in three days."

Bryce checked his watch as he slid on the gloves that Maddie had given him. "We have to go, or Maddie will leave without us."

Bones gave Lyric a hug, and she caught his whispered words. "You come back safe, you hear?"

"I'm a doctor, not an idiot," she whispered back. "Goodbye." And she followed Bryce out the door.

______________________________________________________________________

The pair found Madison at the hangar, about to board her craft.

"Whoa," Bryce breathed. The ship had a sleek silver paint job, with ideal aerodynamics for smooth flying. The name _USS Leviathan_ was airbrushed onto the side.

"This is…" Lyric began

"Awesome? Unreal? Your compliments are too kind." Madison grinned in light of the dark situation. A lacy film covered her eyes; Bryce remembered that he still needed to put in the contact lenses. "I just finished setting up Brendan's room for his surveillance station. He'll follow Bryce, and Ly'll follow me. Come on," she beamed. "Let me show you the rest of my baby!"

The three strolled up the gangplank onto the _Leviathan_. Bryce gazed around. The living quarters were on either side of the hallway. Madison and Ly would be sharing, while Bryce was across the way.

Madison opened he door at the end. Bryce raised his eyebrow at the sight that unfolded before him. There was a set of four medical beds set up on the close side of the bridge; Bryce's stomach turned when he counted them. The mini-medical wing was separated from the rest of the bridge by a set of flaps.

The bridge was sleek and clean. There was no captain's chair; just a helmsman's chair, a science station, and an engineer's and surveillance station. But… "Where's the beaming pad?"

Maddie fiddled with the helmsman settings. She did not look up. "You're standing on it."

Bryce looked down in alarm, expecting to see a small, lit-up hemisphere at his feet. Maddie giggled from the helmsman seat.

"The pad is built into the floor!"

"Oh." Understanding, Bryce looked to the medical wing.

Lyric was unloading her bag onto the shelves. "He'll just have to hold on," she muttered.

To take his mind off things, like the sinking feeling in his stomach, Bryce examined the controls. "How fast can she go?"

"Warp 22," Maddie proclaimed proudly.

"Impressive."

"Yeah, well, Scotty helped me a bit with the speed and design."

Bryce raised an eyebrow. "A bit?"

"Okay, a lot," Maddie admitted. "But the design's _mine_." She glared pointedly at Bryce.

Bryce put his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine! It's yours!" he laughed.

Madison stepped into the hallway and into her room. She held a black ribbon in her mouth, instead of her normal blue one. Pulling her hair back into her usual ponytail, she tied the ribbon at the top.

She heard a noise that she should not have heard right before takeoff; the sound of the gangplank being lowered again. Maddie raced out of her room and almost bumped into…

Uhura.

The older woman's mouth was set tight, hands folded across her chest. She stalked onto the bridge.

Bryce whirled around from the science station.

"Mom," he swallowed.

Uhura began her angry speech. "What do you think you're doing? Don't tell me," she cut off her son as he was about to reply. "You're going off to look for your father, aren't you?"

Bryce could only nod.

"No, you're _not_. I don't want you getting hurt too, or worse."

"But, Mom! How did you know I was here anyway?" Maddie saw Bryce's hands twitch nervously.

"I was looking _everywhere_ for you. Brendan was muttering something about surveillance, so I asked him if he'd seen you. He denied it, but looked away."

"So you pressured him into telling you?"

Uhura nodded. "You are coming back with me. If these two want to risk their necks, by all means. And you," she turned on Maddie, who jumped in surprise. "I might have known you'd want to try something like this. You have no right to take my son away from me!"

"Hey! Lay off! He _volunteered_ for this!" Lyric shouted. "Just because your maternal instincts are working overtime-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Maddie's hands were pressed to her ears. "On _my _ship, everyone can stay or go as they please. No one has any relation here. We lift off in five minutes. Anyone _not_ coming, leave by then. Otherwise," She drew a shaking breath. "You are part of this rescue." And with that, she turned on her heels and went back to her room.

Lyric raised her eyebrows as her friend walked away. "I'm staying," she murmured, crossed her arms, and sat at the engineering/surveillance station.

"Well, _you_ and I are _not_. Let's go," Uhura declared, and treaded towards the door. When she heard no footsteps behind her, she turned around. "Let's _go_, Bryce."

Bryce rose from his chair and, instead of following his mother out the door, he planted his feet. "No, Mom. I'm staying here." He lifted his chin defiantly and folded his hands behind his back. _Probably to hide the fact that they're shaking_, Lyric guessed.

"Bryce. I don't want you getting hurt." Uhura's voice dropped to a soft, sad whisper.

"I'll be careful. I promise."

"You'd better." Uhura's voice broke, and she raced over and hugged her son. _I love you._

_I know, Mom. I know. I'm so sorry._

Uhura detached herself, and walked back down the gangplank.

Bryce drew a breath, and collapsed into his chair. He put his head in his hands.

Lyric cocked her head. "Ginger? Are you okay? Is your stomach bothering you again?"

Bryce shook his head. He took something out of his backpack and handed it to Ly; a book.

"This is my photo album."

Lyric opened to the first page. A five-year-old Bryce flashed two missing teeth at her. He sat on Uhura's lap with his father's hand on his head. As Lyric skimmed, she realized that these pictures were in no particular order. It went from a picture of two two-year-olds to one from infancy.

Madison strolled in before Lyric was halfway done. "Let's ride." Ly put the album down and spun her chair into the forward position.

Maddie clacked at some of the keys. "Brendan, do you copy?"

"I copy!" the British accent cried back. "Ready for launch?"

"Open the airlock."

The _Leviathan_ rose off the floor of the hangar, and floated out of the open air lock door.

"Good luck, you three!"

The sleek silver ship shot off into the starry skies.

______________________________________________________________________

Maddie whirled around her helmsman's chair. She had put the _Leviathan_ on autopilot at Warp 15. "Strategy time?"

Bryce spun his chair. "How can we strategize? We don't know the Gilligan ship, or where they're being held."

Maddie pulled down a screen. "I sent a probe ahead of us to take a digital photo layout of the ship. We still don't know where they are, but we can take a rough guess." She checked her watch. "Going at this speed, we should get to the ship in a day. That's the third day from when Spock was poisoned, so we'll have to work fast.

"This is the layout of the enemy ship. They're near their home planet, so my guess is that they will land at some point, to bring their prisoners aboard. We need to get them out of there _before_ that happens. Firstly, since Ly can't really do the engineering stuff much, we need to set a rendezvous point. That way, when Ly presses 'Energize,' she won't have to key in any coordinates."

Lyric breathed a sigh of relief. After all, she was a doctor, not an engineer!

"I was thinking right here," Maddie pointed to a spot on the map. "That seems heavily protected and private." She paused. "Are we in agreement?" She got nods from all on the bridge.

Bryce stepped up to the diagram. "That thing looks huge…" he murmured. "How will we find them?

Maddie waved her hand in his face. "Hello! I have a _Vulcan Detector_!"

"It doesn't necessarily mean that Jim is going to be with him!"

"GUYS! STOP FIGHTING!"

Lyric's cry was ignored as Maddie and Bryce battled on.

"You could stop acting like a pessimist! That would help things!"

"I'm only being logical! Cultivating multiple possibilities helps to make the best choice!

"Well you could at least follow _my_ theory! It's the brightest one!"

"Why should I follow _your_ theory? Just because it's best? Who died and made _you_ captain?"

"My father left me in charge!"

"Yeah? Well, why didn't he pick someone more responsible?"

"Someone like _you_?"

"Yeah! Someone like _me_!"

"GUYS! BOTH OF YOU, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Again, Lyric was ignored. Fuming, she stomped over to the mini medical wing. The feuding pair didn't notice.

"You think you're so great, huh? Why don't _you_ be in charge?"

"I think I will!"

"Not on _my_ ship, you green-blooded, neck pinching, son of a-!"

Madison's tirade was cut short by a vaccine to the neck from an extremely pissed-off doctor. She and Bryce fell to the ground, unconscious.

Lyric shook her head.

"Dammit, guys! Never mess with me when I have access to sedatives!"


	18. Torture

Jim was pacing. There was nothing left to do. It had been one day since he had been thrown in here, since Spock had eaten the poison. He glanced over at the occupied mattress in the corner. The huddled mass faced the wall.

Kirk stopped. Something had changed that had not been going on since before his last lap around the cell.

The Vulcan was shaking.

As Kirk watched, Spock's back arched, and he twitched violently. A shiver raced down his spine, and he let out a moan.

"Spock?" Kirk tentatively stepped forward and turned his friend onto his back, just in time to scramble backwards in anxiety, surprise, and dread.

Spock had let out a bloodcurdling, pain-filled scream. His brown eyes were open wide. They were glazed over with fever, or something more. His back was twisted horribly, and his limbs jerked.

A worried Kirk tried shaking his tortured companion. "Spock!" This went on for a good ten minutes, until Spock settled his spasms into milder contortions. Slowly, he returned to an almost normal breathing pattern.

His first officer turned a glassy stare to the panicking captain's face. "I…apologize, Captain." Spock coughed, and green blood bubbled at his mouth, and his head fell backwards onto the mattress.

Kirk stepped back, and turned his gaze to the glass-painted wall. Turning his head, he examined the room. He knew it was bugged; but where from? How would he tell Spock that help was coming if the Gilligan bastards would hear?

He dawned on an idea, and turned around excitedly when the door opened. Guards stepped in and grabbed Kirk's arms.

"What about him?" one of them asked, jerking one of his antlers towards Spock.

"Jiando says leave him be."

Kirk seized his opportunity to try and fight his way out of the Gilligans' grasps, but they just chuckled. One brought a fist down over Kirk's head.

Unconsciousness was instantaneous.

______________________________________________________________________

Groaning, Kirk put a hand up to rub his head, but he felt he couldn't. His blue eyes snapped open to find the rest of him strapped to a wall. "What the hell?"

He strained against the restraints with a cry of protest, but to no avail. Sighing, he relaxed his muscles and dropped his head.

The door slid open, and the enormous Gilligan stepped inside.

Kirk snapped to attention and faced his captor. "What do you want?" he snarled.

Jiando looked visibly offended. "Me? I want nothing, per se."

"Per se?"

"I have the antidote to the poison that now ails your friend."

Kirk feigned happiness. "Really? Oh, that's terrific!" he sarcastically exclaimed with a thumbs-up.

"Do you want Spock to be cured? Be honest, Captain."

Jim held the creature's gaze for a moment, trying to detect a fallacy. "Of course I do," he found himself spitting back the truth immediately.

"Then, in order to get this," Jiando held up the bottle of Tarden root. "And your own life to be prolonged, do you know what I _need_?"

"No, and I don't really _want_ to know, but I have the feeling that you're going to tell me anyway."

A paw to the face silenced him.

Jiando leaned in close. "I need the access codes to the Starfleet main system. Preferably the classified information section and the weapons section," he rasped.

Kirk narrowed his eyes. "And what if I say no?"

"Then your friend does not get the antidote. I strongly suggest that you give me those codes so that both of your lives will be expanded."

Kirk nodded gravely. "The codes are…1,2,3,4,5, and 6,7,8,9,0." He grinned.

"Captain, I urge you to be reasonable."

Kirk feigned confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, those codes would be something an idiot uses for his briefcase!" Jiando pinched the bridge of his nose. "If you are not going to be cooperative and give me the real codes, then I will have to do this."

Suddenly, Kirk's bindings became white-hot. He screamed to let the pain loose. The heat ebbed, and he gasped.

"Captain? Can we be reasonable now?"

"_We_ can stop talking in the third person, if we don't mind. Jim hates third person, and he bets Jiando does too."

Jiando clenched his claws, and Kirk's smiling face began to contort again with pain as the straps heated up again. The Gilligan gave an order in his native tongue, and Kirk felt a stabbing pang in his back. The spearhead sunk through and rested itself in Kirk's ribcage, just below his lung.

"The codes."

Kirk, despite the agony he was in, managed to be cocky. "I…wouldn't tell you those codes…even if you were a…respected Starfleet officer!" he spat.

"Very well. Get him out of here."

As Kirk was led away, he had to grin, despite the hole in his back, despite the burns on his arms and chest and legs.

The Gilligan would never know that he had actually given him the real codes. _I win._

______________________________________________________________________

Spock lifted his head a fraction when Kirk was thrown back into the cell. "What did they want, Captain? Are you hurt?"

Kirk winced as he tried to sit up. "Yeah, I'm hurt," he grimaced. "They wanted the codes for the classified information and weapons access in exchange for the antidote."

"Did you tell them?"

Kirk grinned and eased himself forward. He grabbed Spock's hand and pressed it to his own temple.

"Captain?" Spock was confused. "Why…?"

The mind meld took hold.

"I gave the codes, but Jiando thought they were fake," Kirk thought.

"How could you be so stupid?"

"Relax. We don't need that dumb antidote anyway."

"Yes, actually, we do."

"No, actually, we don't."

"Explain, Captain."

"Maddie, Bryce, and Ly are coming to get us."

"How do you know this?"

"Hard to explain."

"I see…" Spock thought, although he really didn't.

"They'll be here ASAP. Everything will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

Silence rang out in the linked heads. Kirk was determining how to answer.

"No. I'm not. But I have to hope."

"Don't we all?"

______________________________________________________________________

The connection broke as a Gilligan grabbed Kirk again.

"Hey!" he shouted as Spock fell back onto his mattress. "Haven't I been through enough today?"

"No, actually. Jiando has something…special planned for you now."

Kirk rolled his eyes. "Oh gee. I can't possibly wait."

Spock gathered enough energy to roll his eyes at the wall. Leave it to Jim to still make witty remarks, even in the face of termination.

______________________________________________________________________

Jiando stood in a banquet hall.

Kirk raised his chin suspiciously, and took in his surroundings carefully. The head of the table had a chair at the edge with a slit in the back; most likely for the fin that sprouted out of all Gilligans' backs. Kirk noticed that between the two antlers on Jiando's head, there sprouted two spiraled horns.

A gesture of the clawed hand snapped Kirk's gaze away from its explorative state. "Captain. I am honored by your presence here."

"Well, considering I was brought here by force, I somehow don't think you mean it."

"Watch your tongue, Kirk," growled his left guard.

"I am insulted, Captain. Please, sit." Jiando gestured again.

Kirk turned his attention to the chair that was being offered to him. The first thing he noticed were the knobs sticking out of the sides of the arms and legs. The second, the chair had no slit in the back like the others. He closed his eyes and listened.

He heard a soft humming noise coming from the chair.

"You know," he remarked, arching his back. "You had me strapped to that wall for so long, I think I'd rather stand. Used to it, after all."

Jiando narrowed his eyes. "Sit down, Captain."

"Nah."

"You have been prided for being cocky, haven't you?"

Kirk flashed a smile. "What was your first clue?"

At a signal from Jiando, the Gilligans flanking Kirk wrestled him into the chair, where ion bounds wrapped around his wrists and ankles. They were swiftly covered by a sheet of metal, which also molded over Kirk's throat, forcing him to sit up straight and keep his head up. The wound in his back still stung.

"Now then, let's get started." Jiando clapped his hands and a tray was brought out and set before him.

Kirk put on a confused face. "Say, Benedict! This is a swell dinner party, but where's the dinner?" he acted although he were at the fancy banquet back in California in honor of his becoming captain of the Enterprise.

"This is my dinner," Jiando lifted the cover off the tray.

Kirk gasped. The full head of a horse stared back at him.

"You seem troubled, Captain. Is there something wrong?"

"Are you, like, in league with the Godfather or something, and you wanted to 'take care of' Mr. Ed?"

"Captain, I do not wish to discuss my dinner." Jiando stabbed his fork into the eyeball, making Kirk's stomach flip in disgust. "I want those codes. And I want them now."

"Kiss my ass," Kirk spat.

Instantaneously, he felt a powerful electric shock course through his body. It started at the neck, and spread up and down. The pain was immense, and Kirk had to let out a yelp.

"And this is _low_ power, Captain. So unless you want the small bit of gray matter that is your brain to be sauteed, I suggest you talk." Jiando speared the other eyeball onto his fork and popped it into his mouth.

Kirk, panting hard, managed to gag in nausea. "Seriously," he choked out. "Could you stop eating, at least when my eyes are open?"

The Gilligan pondered for a moment. "No," he muttered, and started sawing off the horse's right ear.

"Come _on_!" Kirk rolled his eyes.

"Give me the codes, Captain."

Kirk could not draw his eyes away from the eyeless and short-one-ear horse. _Poor Mr. Ed_, he thought, and started humming the theme song. "Oh, a horse is a horse, of course, of course, and no one can talk to a horse, of course. That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed."

Jiando looked bewildered as he saw the man sitting across from him not answering his question, but bobbing his head back and forth feebly. "What…are you doing?" When he got no answer, he strained his ears to listen. When he heard the hummed theme song, Jiando's eyes narrowed. _He's humming._

Kirk only stopped the humming when the electric shock came again, this time, at a greater magnitude. When it died down, Kirk's head flopped forward. "God! Stop it!"

"What were you humming?" Jiando was puzzled.

Kirk muttered an incoherent sentence. His right flank yanked his head up by his hair, and he found himself having to go cross-eyed to keep the other end of the table in view.

"Tell me what you were humming, or I'll have Liko slit your throat."

Seeing as there was a choice; answer or die, Kirk decided to answer. How much could he be punished for humming a theme song? "The theme song to Mr. Ed."

Jiando's beak was split in astonishment. "What?"

Kirk shrugged as much as he could. "Hey, at least I didn't sing the theme song to Gilligan's Island."

"That is it!" Jiando rose out of his chair. "I have had enough with your backtalk and double-talk!" He stalked around the table. "I have half a mind to kill you right now."

"You have half a mind in general."

"Rrrgh!" Jiando let out in exasperation. He pressed a button on the table, and another shock made its way through Kirk's body.

Agonizing pain wracked his whole being. It felt as if his muscles and bones were being fried. Kirk could have used a four letter word to express his pain, but somehow, he was unable to do anything but scream.

And scream he did.

Jiando ate his horse head in silence, as if the pain-filled cries were a sort of background music.

The other Gilligans in the room stood looking on as the electric current stung again and again.

Down the hall, Spock was locked in his own spasm of pain. He heard the shrieks, but absently thought they were his own.

______________________________________________________________________

Another set of shrieks woke up the young doctor on a tiny ship traveling at warp.

"Whoa!" Lyric McCoy sat up in her bed abruptly to hit her head on the ceiling. "I'm short, yet I can still hit my head on the ceiling above a bunk bed." Leaping down, she found her friend, still locked in an unconscious slumber, screaming her head off.

"Maddie!" Ly called, shaking her. "Wake up! Do you want me to turn this ship around?"

That did the trick. "Like you would know how to pilot it anyway." Madison Kirk's lower lip was trembling, as was the rest of her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. We'll get them in time."

"Promise?"

Lyric smiled. "Promise."


	19. Mission

When Bryce finally came to, he found his cheek pressed against the bridge floor. Confused, he yanked his head up to view his surroundings.

He was in the corner of the medical section of the bridge of the _Leviathan_. Groaning, he rubbed his sore neck. Why was it sore in the first place though?

Lyric, from her surveillance and engineering post, glanced over. "Ah, good. You're finally awake," she remarked.

"What happened?" Bryce moaned. "How long have I been asleep?"

Lyric shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a day. You and Maddie were fighting, so to put a stop to it, I rammed you both with sedatives." She shook her head. "Maddie came back fast, but you…God, when you're out, you're _out_!"

Madison came in from her and Ly's bedroom. She glanced down at Bryce and pursed her lips. "I had to drag you all the way to the corner from here," she pointed with her toe. "Dude! What have you been _eating_?"

Bryce blushed. "Sorry." He felt another pair of eyes on him. "What?"

Lyric was staring, fascinated, at him. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" Bryce was getting nervous…

"Isn't your blood green?"

"Yeah…why?"

"You just blushed red. Why does that happen?" she mused.

Maddie piped up. "Your dad would know," she turned to her console. "Dropping out of warp…"

Bryce's stomach flipped. This was the moment he had been dreading. They were so close.

The warp lines shrunk back into dots once more as the tiny ship lost speed.

"Initiate cloaking," Maddie ordered.

"Cloaking device engaged," Lyric replied.

A tiny shuttlecraft floated aimlessly in front of them. Bryce squinted to read the registration code.

NCC-1701. "That's Spock's ship."

Madison's face remained indifferent as she shrugged. "They shouldn't be able to pick us up on any scanners."

She flew the _Leviathan_ carefully around the tiny shuttlecraft. A huge hunk of metal was now visible on the front monitor.

"That's a big ship," Lyric squeaked.

Madison, for once was at a loss of what to say. Wordlessly, she pulled the ship to a halt and rose from her seat.

"Let's get going," she swallowed. "What are we waiting for? We don't have much time." She thought of something. "Let me make a quick inventory check."

She grabbed her messenger bag and opened it. "This is a shapeshifter." Maddie pulled out a sleek metal palm pilot. She fiddled around on the screen and suddenly pointed it at Lyric.

"Whoa! Hey!" she cried. Bryce laughed at her expression.

A beam shot out of the palm pilot and hit Lyric.

Maddie grinned. "Well? What do you think?"

Lyric stepped forward, and Bryce looked into her blue eyes. _Wait…_ He was looking _into_ her eyes.

_Oh. My. God. Wow…_ Lyric thought. _I grew ten inches…_ "How did you do that?" she smiled. "I like being tall!"

"Genetic modifications," Maddie answered simply. "I'm sorry, Ly, but I have to change you back."

_NO!_ "No way!" Lyric cried, backing up against the wall. "I _like_ being six foot!"

Lyric pouted in the corner while Maddie aimed the palm pilot at her and shot the beam again. "No fair, Maddie!" she cried, but her friend gave her no mind. She was running through a mental checklist.

"Vulcan detector, grappling hook, exploding gum, bubble phaser…"

"Bubble phaser?" the once-again five-foot-two Lyric inquired.

"If it gets into the hands of your enemies, no worries, because it only shoots bubbles. Let's see…recording device…Do you have your contacts in and the tic-tac in your ear?" she addressed Bryce.

Bryce gave her a thumbs up.

"Gloves, phaser-proof shirt and pants, boots…"

Lyric sat down at her station. "You never told us what _your_ boots did, Maddie Scientist." She grinned at her little pun.

Maddie looked up and out of the depths of her bag. "Hopefully you won't _need_ to know my boots' function." She gazed around quickly. "Alright, we're ready to go!"

Bryce stared up at the massive hulk of a ship in front of them. Only Lyric caught his murmured words.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…"

* * *

Amanda was woken from a nightmare at three o'clock in the morning. Her brother's footsteps had just run by.

She grabbed her school uniform off the back of the chair and raced out of her room.

"Adonis!" she hissed at his receding back. "Where the hell are you going?"

Ado didn't turn around. "I'm beaming up."

"Why?"

"Brendan has communications with Bryce, Maddie, and Ly. He's made arrangements with Jeremy for me to beam up. I need to know what's going on."

"Then you know I'm coming with you."

Adonis stopped as he approached the beaming pad and smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"_Ado? Can you hear me?_" Jeremy's voice came over the intercom.

"I hear you, Jeremy," Ado replied. "Beam up for two, as requested."

"_All set!_"

"Energize.

* * *

Lyric swiveled around in her chair. "All set to beam aboard," she choked out. "This is it."

Maddie turned to Bryce. "Are you ready?"

Bryce gazed back at her. _No._ "Yeah. You?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she sighed. "Let's get going." Instead of positioning herself for beaming, Maddie raced over and gave Ly a hug. "We'll be back before you know it," she promised.

Lyric nodded. "Energize," she proclaimed, pulling the lever.

Bryce got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he was surrounded by light particles. He glanced over at his companion, who gave him a wry smile. Lids closed over brown eyes, and he was gone.

Lyric stared for a moment where her friends had disappeared, and shook her head. "Come on, Lyric. We've got work to do." She now had a full readout on the Gilligan ship. Two dots, both green, had just appeared at the rendez-vous point. Red dots swarmed around the various levels.

"Communications on. Maddie?"

"I hear you."

Satisfied, Lyric moved on to her other communicator. "Brendan, do you copy?"

"I copy!" Brendan's cry came over the intercom.

"I copy too!"

"Me too!"

Lyric froze. _No. No way._ "Brendan. You have some explaining to do."

"Explaining?" the innocent sounding voice repeated.

"Why, for the love of _Pete_, are Adonis and Amanda on the communications board?"

"Who's Pete?" Brendan sounded insulted. "Someone I should know about?"

"Stop changing the subject."

"They…forced me."

"You _let. Them. Beam. Up._"

"Well, yeah. It gets kinda lonely without you, love, and Maddie and Bryce, and they said they had to know what was happening…"

Lyric sighed and put her palm to her head. Before she could reply, Bryce's furious thought came through the speaker.

"You weren't supposed to _let_ them!" his mind hissed.

"Shut up, Bryce. We have a mission, remember?" Maddie's mind reminded him.

Ado piped up. "We needed to know what was happening to you, bro."

Lyric sighed and glanced back at her monitor. The two green dots were in motion. The idea was that, when, not if, Maddie and Bryce found Kirk and Spock, they would issue a command to the tic-tacs in their ears to signal that there were two more green dots to take care of. Failure was not an option.

* * *

"Right, got it. Mission." Bryce shook his head to clear it.

Maddie held the Vulcan Detector out in front of her. "This way," she whispered. The hallway was deserted.

Bryce fell into step with his companion. "It's quiet. Too quiet…"

"Sh!" Madison hissed.

Bryce blinked. "What?"

"Normally, when that happens on TV, something bad happens next!"

"Come on!" Bryce rolled his eyes. "Just because something happens to someone on TV doesn't mean it'll happen to us!"

As if on cue, two Gilligans rounded the corner and spotted the two teenagers peering at the Vulcan detector. "You there!"

Bryce's eyes widened. "I take that back! Run!"

The pair turned on their heels and ran for the other end of the hall. The Vulcan detector heartily agreed, beeping softly as it was carried in the right direction.

"Stop!" The Gilligan cried, chasing after the fleeing friends. His eyes happened on a peculiar sight; the female reached into her bag, followed by the male. The minute their hands disappeared inside, their whole bodies vanished.

The Gilligan sighed angrily, and flipped open a hatch in the wall. "Captain, this is Lieutenant Li'mard. We appear to have a pair of stowaways."

* * *

Jiando was watching Kirk spit bile to the ground in the water blasting room when he heard the message from the lieutenant.

"Species, Lieutenant?"

"I believe they were human, sir. One male, one female. They were human_oid_, sir. I can't say for certain."

_Odd…How would a pair of humans manage to sneak aboard without being discovered?_

"Rough ages?"

"Young, sir. When they saw us, they ran."

…_whereas an adult might stand to fight._ "Lieutenant, can you see if there are any ships in the region?"

"Besides the abandoned shuttlecraft?"

"Yes."

Li'mard stalked up to the bridge. He clacked away at a station. "Do you think this ship has a cloaking device, Captain?"

"Quite possibly. Use the strongest detectors we have."

Li'mard did as asked, and soon, a faint outline of a tiny ship appeared on the screen. Li'mard did a double take. The ship had near-perfect aerodynamics, from the outline alone. It was sleek and slim, and the name of the ship popped up on the screen.

_USS Leviathan_.

"Sir!" Li'mard cried excitedly. "I've got something!"

"Well?"

"It's tiny, sir! Aerodynamics are phenomenal!"

"The _name_ please, Lieutenant."

"The _USS Leviathan_, sir."

Kirk's head snapped up from the floor, where he had been writhing in pain. The name of that ship…rang a bell.

Jiando looked down at him. "Do you know that craft?"

"N-no," Kirk groaned, which merited him a kick in the stomach.

"Do not lie to me, Captain. Do you know who pilots that craft? Yes or no."

Kirk huffed out, sending a lock of hair spinning over his head. "Why do you want to know?"

Jiando fought not to kick him again. "Because two of its passengers have beamed aboard somehow, and are running loose throughout this ship."

"I told her to be _careful_!" Kirk muttered under his breath.

"This ship had a cloaking device."

"So," Kirk grimaced. "How did you manage to get around it?"

"We have our ways."

The lieutenant's voice came over the intercom again. "Shall I beam aboard to see if there is anyone there?"

Jiando turned his gaze to the man on the floor. "What do you think, Captain?"

Kirk shrugged, trying to hide his discomfort, his sickly green wounds, bleeding slashes, and overwhelming fear for the three teenagers who had flown to his rescue. "Not my ship. You're the captain here."

"Captain, I merely ask for your opinion."

"Do whatever the hell you want." _They'll take care of themselves, I hope…_

"Very well. Beam aboard. Arm guns with ammunition."

_Arm guns?_

"You don't use phasers?"

"No, Captain. We prefer to see our victims suffer, if you had not already guessed."

_Uh-oh_.

* * *

Lyric McCoy bustled around the medical wing, looking for bandages. She had pricked her finger on one of the buttons. "Oh yeah! They're in my room!" she remembered, and stalked over.

She was bent over her medical bag when she heard an odd noise.

The noise that particles make when a life form was being beamed from one place to another.

She grasped the phaser that laid next to the bed. To be safe, she ran through a mental checklist as she slipped on the gloves and pressed her ring finger to her thumb. Ly stepped out of her room into the hallway and caught her breath.

A huge Gilligan was on the bridge. He stood in the hall, poring over something on the ledge. A closer look told Ly that it was Bryce's photo album.

"Fascinating," it mumbled. "This is truly interesting. This can only mean that the male human I saw is close to our prisoner. Possibly a blood relation. I must tell the captain!"

_Not on _my_ watch_. The key to success was not making their true identities known, so that they could not be used against Kirk or Spock. "Don't worry, beast. I'll make this quick and painless," Lyric murmured. "Dad'll have a living specimen to dissect."

She stepped out to face the creature, phaser raised. "Freeze!" she cried, and turned to face…

No one. The Gilligan was gone.

Well, not completely gone.

The moment the thought crossed her mind that Maddie and Bryce were as good as dead if that beast got back to his mother ship, thick arms wrapped around her torso. With a surprised yelp, she fought to wriggle an arm out of his grasp.

"What's this? A tiny humanoid!"

"I'm fully human," Ly spat between gritted teeth. "And…"

She connected her hardened glove to the Gilligan's head. "I'm NOT tiny!"

Quickly setting her phaser to kill, she aimed it at the creature before her and fired.

Li'mard's head flopped back.

"Oh. My god. Maddie!" Lyric cried in disbelief.

"What, Ly? We're kind of in a crisis here!"

_Crisis? What the hell?_

"Ly?" Maddie's irritated thought rang out through the speakers.

"What's wrong, love?" Brendan could hear her too.

"I just killed a Gilligan."


	20. Inside

Bryce leaned against the wall of the rendezvous point as the doors clanged shut. "That was a close one," he gasped.

"Yeah," Maddie breathed. She listened closely to her tic-tac. "Oh god…"

"Maddie? What is it? Did something go wrong? What happened?" Bryce panted. "Spit it out, Maddie!"

"Ly just told me she killed a Gilligan."

Bryce's head snapped up. "What? When? How?"

Maddie counted off on her fingers. "A Gilligan, just now, most likely with a phaser."

"Wow. I didn't think she had it in her."

"Shut up," Maddie murmured, but her gaze drifted elsewhere. She was looking around the rendezvous point frantically.

"Mad-?"

Madison swore and started tugging at her hair.

"What?"

"I dropped the Vulcan detector!"

Bryce's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? How stupid can you be?" he ran his hands through his brown-ginger hair. "Now, since I have copper in _my_ blood, they'll be able to find me, and therefore _you_!"

"Oh, this is just _perfect_! But I have an idea…"

Maddie paced around the tiny rendezvous point. She fiddled with her shapeshifter for a second. She calmly pointed it at herself, and then aimed it at Bryce.

The beam shot out, and Madison calmly gazed at the Gilligan who stood before her.

"Maddie?" it rasped. "What happened to your face? And the rest of you?"

Maddie grinned. "I could ask you the same question, Bryce."

The Gilligan gasped, and twirled around awkwardly, looking at itself in surprise. The familiar brown eyes were round and wide, the familiar voice sounded through a beak.

"Gyah! Why does my head feel so heavy?" it groaned, reaching clawed hands upwards.

Maddie had to grin as the beak dropped lower and lower as the hands felt the antlers and horns. It quickly brought the hands down in front of its face.

"What happened to my hands?" it cried, and backed up. Its back never hit the wall, though, because spikes that stuck out of the back of its legs and a fin that protruded out of its back stopped him short. "What the hell? And what's with my feet?" The Gilligan glanced down at its short, bumpy feet.

"You look like a Gilligan, Bryce," Maddie chuckled. "As do I. I got a readout of the one Ly killed, and keyed it into the shapeshifter. My bag's a crossbow. Awesome, right?"

"No! This is _not_ awesome!" Bryce clenched his Gilligan fists. "You've changed us into these…these…_things_ that are killing our fathers slowly! This is _so_ not sitting well with _me_!"

Brendan's voice sounded in both of their ears. "Cheer up, Bryce! I've got something that'll keep you occupied for nine minutes and fifty-one seconds while you're exploring for your dads!"

Lyric cocked her head, then realized what her boyfriend was up to. "Oh, no, Brendan. You are NOT doing what I think you-" She was too late. Brendan had already pressed 'play.' Lyric groaned and found herself tapping her foot to the beat of the beginning interlude. "Dammit, Brendan! You know I like this song!"

Adonis perused the computer monitor and whistled. "You, my friend, have _awesome_ taste in music."

Amanda grinned. "All of the golden oldies! Billy Joel, Elton John, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Nickelback, Blue Oyster Cult, Grateful Dead, Green Day, Michael Jackson, and now Meat Loaf? I agree with my brother. AWESOME taste!" she giggled.

Madison's slightly shorter antlers shook a little as she shook her head to the guitar solo at the beginning of the song. "Thanks, buddy!"

Bryce sighed. _How is this supposed to make me feel any better?_ But despite this thought, he found himself a prisoner to the music that a British boy was playing through a tic-tac in his ear.

"We'll leave when the words start," Maddie grinned through her beak.

The words started one minute and fifty-five seconds after the song began. During the interlude, Maddie and Bryce strummed on air guitars, Lyric snapped, whistled, and tapped out the rhythm, Ado played the air drums, and Amanda and Brendan played air bass.

Madison opened the doors to the rendezvous point at one minute and fifty seven seconds. Six voices found themselves either mouthing or singing the words.

"The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling way down in the valley tonight. There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye and a blade shining oh so bright. There's evil in the air and there's thunder in the sky and a killer's on the bloodshot streets. Oh, and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising, oh, I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter, he was starting to foam in the heat."

"Oh Baby, you're the only thing in this whole world that's pure and good and right, and wherever you are and wherever you go there's always gonna be some light. But I gotta get out I gotta break it out now before the final crack of dawn. So we gotta make the most of our one night together; When it's over, you know, we'll both be so alone…"

The two Gilligans traipsed around the halls of the foreign ship, humming Bat Out Of Hell under their breaths.

"Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes! When the night is over, like a bat out of hell I'll be gone gone gone!" Maddie accidentally found herself punching on the last three beats at enemy Gilligans who came up behind her.

"Hey! Watch it! Are you looking to make a fight?" one of them growled.

Whoops.

Bryce swore under his breath. "Pause it, Brendan," he thought.

"You must be a newbie," the enemy Gilligan continued fiercely. "Otherwise you'd know not to randomly punch people in the corridors. I'm Ma'kenno."

"Why would you want to tell me your name?" Maddie retorted.

"Because I need you to know of whom you'll be begging for mercy when I am crushing you to a pulp," Ma'kenno snarled.

"Hey, now! Don't blame her just because she's new on the job!" Bryce stepped in front of Maddie.

Ma'kenno blinked. "And what's _your_ name?"

Lyric hissed in Bryce's ear. "I scanned the dead one, and his name's Lieutenant Li'mard!"

"I'm Lieutenant Li'mard," Bryce replied cooly, internally flinching at the lie. Bryce read the Gilligan's expression and manner carefully. _Which apparently means I have more authority over you…_ "Ma'kenno, I don't want to see you picking on my sister."

Lyric browsed Gilligan customs on her computer. "You idiot!"

Ma'kenno looked at Bryce suspiciously. "Why is your sister even here?"

Bryce replied, without hesitation, "She wanted to see what my job was like, up close and personal. Is that a problem, Ma'kenno?"

"N-no, sir. Of course not, sir. Did you check out that ship like Jiando wanted?"

"I did indeed. There was nothing to be concerned about. Just a ship passing through. The inhabitants must have beamed somewhere else to get food, though. Nobody was there."

"I see…You'd better report back to Jiando soon, or he'll have your head."

Bryce laughed, taking it as a joke. "Yeah, he'll _definitely_ kill me." He broke off once he saw the serious expression on Ma'kenno's face. "I was on my way to report, Ma'kenno. Where is Jiando?"

"With the prisoners, Lieutenant."

Maddie, before Bryce could inquire foolishly where the prisoners were, piped up. "Excuse me, Ma'kenno," she twittered sweetly. "But where are the prisoners? It's my first time on the ship, and Li'mard was letting me lead the way."

Lyric tapped at her computer. "Maddie, Gilligan siblings have the same first part of the name, no matter the gender. So you'll be…Li'laila."

_Got it, Ly! Thanks!_

Ma'kenno blinked at her. "I never caught your name…"

"Li'laila," Maddie chatted off. "Which way, Ma'kenno?"

"That way, down the hall, second corridor on the right. I trust you know how to get by, Lieutenant Li'mard." Ma'kenno bowed his head slightly and walked away.

Lyric sighed in relief. "Well, that was easy enough. Great work!"

Brendan, Adonis, and Amanda protested; "Can we put it back on?"

"No," Maddie murmured. "This is something different."

A large steel door loomed in front of Maddie and Bryce. It read; "3:01" and below that, "early 2009."

Bryce shrugged. "Not a clue." He opened the door to see an empty room coated with more steel. "Still nothing." There was a door on the other side. "There is no possible way we can stretch walking across _that_ over forty seconds…"

Maddie thought for a moment, and something dawned on her. "Oh no…"

Bryce whipped his head around. "What?"

Maddie checked her pocket computer.

"What is it?"

"I remember this…"

"What?" Bryce asked, indignantly this time.

Maddie started tapping her legs. "I need to be human to do it…"

"Human for what?"

She got out her shapeshifter and became herself again.

"Tell me!"

Bryce craned his ears to listen to his friend whisper to herself. "It's just like in The Pacifier…"

"WHAT is?"

"I am SO going to regret this. I hated it when my foster sisters taught me, and I'm hating it now."

"Hating WHAT?" Bryce cried as Maddie started to hum.

"Boom boom clap, boom de clap de clap. Boom boom clap, boom de clap de clap."

Bryce was hopelessly confused as Maddie spoke the lyrics;

"Everybody come on, off your seats! I'm gonna tell you about a beat that's gonna make you move your feet. I'll give the Bar-be-que show and tell you how to move if you're five or eighty-two, this is something you can do."

"What?" Bryce frowned as Maddie started dancing across the floor.

"Pop it, lock it, polka dot it. Countrify, then hip-hop it. Put your hawk in the sky, move side to side. Jump to the left, stick it, glide."

Every step Maddie took, there was something that was fired at her, or the floor disappeared.

"Watch out! Booby traps!" Bryce cried. Maddie seemed not to hear, and she was already avoiding them all just fine.

"Zig-zag, 'cross the floor. Shuffle in diagonal. When the drum hits, hands on your hips. One foot in, 180 twist, and then a, zig-zag, step n' slide. Lean it left,"

Maddie leaned a little too slowly, because a flaming arrow was arched at her. She ducked quickly and brushed her arm where she thought the arrow grazed her. Maddie continued on with the overrated dance.

"Clap three times. Shake it out, head to toe…"

Maddie reached the door on the other side, and pushed on a panel. "There!" She grinned. "That was highly unpleasant!"

Bryce's lower beak had dropped. "I will not be able to do that…" he shook his head.

"With any luck, you won't have to. Come on!" Maddie hadn't changed back into a Gilligan yet. As Bryce stepped warily across the seemingly empty corridor, she called out to him. "Let me change you back now. I don't think we'll need these disguises now…"

Bryce nodded as Maddie fired her palm pilot at him again. It felt good to be himself. He made sure everything was in his pockets; pocket knife, phaser, check. Gloves, contacts, and rubber ghost bracelet; check.

Maddie stepped through the door into the next room.

A piercing cry made Bryce step up his pace to a sprint. He stood in the open doorframe to see a room bathed in shadow.

But he could plainly observe Maddie, pressed against the opposite wall, a glinting kitchen knife pressed to her throat. Fear clouded her eyes.

_Maddie! Bryce! Get in there!_ Lyric cried into his ear.

_I can't! She's got a knife to her throat!_

_Bryce! Get out of here!_ Maddie's plaintive thought echoed through Bryce's ear canal. _He'll kill you too!_

Before Bryce could retaliate, a gruff and familiar voice sounded from the owner of the knife.

"Drop all of your weapons! Or she dies! And, Bryce, you know I mean it, too!"


	21. Rescue

Maddie couldn't move. A knife was pressed to her throat, and the man who kept her prisoner would kill her if she even tapped her foot to signal to Bryce.

Bryce, a silhouette against the open door.

_Oh, this is just great. If he kills one of us, we'll never make it in time!_

She had heard Lyric's frantic cries, calling her name and ordering Bryce to do something. _Spoken, or shouted, like a true sister…_ she thought to herself, grimacing.

"Bryce. I'm waiting," her captor remarked.

"Let her go, Angler. Your conflict is with me," Bryce growled in protest.

"Precisely, boy. Precisely. Now drop that phaser in your holster, like I told you, or you'll see just how neat and quick with a knife I can be."

Bryce did not lose the scowl on his face or drop his gaze from his old professor's as he reached down to his left holster and threw the phaser to the ground. _Left holster? But Bryce is right-handed… He would keep his phaser in his right holster…_ Then Maddie remembered.

"There. You got what you wanted," Bryce snarled. "Now let. Her. _GO_."

Commander Angler looked like he was thinking for a moment. "I don't think I will."

Bryce gnashed his teeth. Maddie could see he was trying to keep his cool as he replied. "And why not, _commander_?"

"Because, I might get a healthy reward and a promotion for turning you two little rascals in." Angler flashed a toothy smile.

Maddie couldn't take it any more. "Little?" she growled, and felt the knife move even closer to cutting into her throat.

Bryce raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, we were full grown. And don't think you're going to get away with this just because you're a jealous prat."

Angler nodded. "What better way to get what I want then to turn in the children of the Gilligans' two biggest foes?"

"Are our fathers the Gilligans' foes…or yours?" Bryce's voice dropped.

Angler's eyes narrowed. "Both."

"Look! Just because my mom married my dad instead of you doesn't mean you have to hold an almost twenty-year-old grudge!" Bryce put his hand to his forehead. "And it doesn't mean that you have to make all of our lives a living hell!"

Angler glared at his former student and pulled something out of his pocket: Maddie could only guess by Bryce's eyes widening, feet moving backwards, and hands folding behind his back, that the traitor had pulled out a phaser.

"Don't…shoot him…" Maddie choked out, and drew a sharp breath. Angler had just dug the knife into her throat. She felt a tiny trickle of warm blood trace its way down her neck.

Bryce clenched his teeth, and Angler threw back his head in laughter. "Face it, Bryce. It ends here."

Maddie heard a fierce shout, and something flew and swished past her left ear. Angler's hand holding her tensed and went slack, and she dared to turn her head to her side. She gasped in horror.

A silver blade protruded from Angler's neck, exactly on his jugular vein.

Maddie glanced back at Bryce, still across the room. His right arm was crossed over his torso, as if…he had just thrown something. His gaze was fixed in a glare and he breathed angrily. He stalked over to the collaborator pinned to the wall by the neck and leaned in close to his face.

Maddie heard his whispered words, "I told you; next time, I wouldn't miss."

Bryce shook himself and turned to Maddie, his brown gaze serious. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and pushed the dead man's arm away from her throat. The hand still clutched the kitchen knife. "We should get him out of the way," she murmured.

Together, the two of them lugged Angler's body to the corner of the deserted room. Something dark splashed to the steel floor.

Bryce analyzed it, and traced the speck back to its source. "You're bleeding…he hurt you…"

Maddie shrugged off her friend's concern. "I'm fine, Bryce." She tried to keep her voice from shaking. "We…we've got work to do." Another door was to the left of the door they came in through. "I'm guessing it's in here. Let's change back."

When the pair was back in their Gilligan disguises, Bryce went first through the door.

He did not look back once.

Kirk was stretched out on his mattress. He sighed and sat up. The pain from the mass electrocutions and the stab in his back that still hadn't been attended to made him wince.

_Maddie, where are you?_

Utterly bored, he decided to have a thumb war with himself. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!" When the thumbs were in a deadlock, Kirk tore his gaze away to glance at the poisoned Vulcan across the room. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead as he fought for breath. Every so often, Spock would let out an agonized moan.

Kirk returned his attention to his thumb war. He was so engrossed with entertaining himself that he didn't notice the door sliding open.

Jiando, followed by four other Gilligans, filed inside to surround him.

Kirk continued his thumb war.

Impatient, Jiando snarled and yanked him up by the hair.

"Hey!" he cried in protest. "I was just about to win!"

A curious sound reached his ears; it almost sounded like laughter. Kirk turned to see the two Gilligans standing closest to Spock, on the very inside of the room, covering their beaks with clawed hands. He knit his brow and his bottom lip gaped slightly.

The shorter Gilligan glared at him. "What are YOU staring at, scumbag?" It sounded female. She stepped closer. "You pitiful excuse for a creature! Do you know why you're here?" She leaned in. "It's because you're _weak_. He who is deathly loyal ends up having that same flaw turned against him."

Kirk's mind raced. He knew she was smart…but _this_ smart? He knew she was clever…and maybe that would save both of their skins.

"I don't have to take that from you, you filthy swamp thing! You don't even know when to _breathe_ if your master here didn't tell you to! You're just eager to follow the crowd; eager to fit in. I bet you did this when you were young too, just so you wouldn't have to sit _alone_ at a lunch table, so you wouldn't have to face anyone about your failure!" He raised his eyebrows, showing he understood, and egging the Gilligan on.

"Well, you kind of have to 'take this from me,' because you don't have a choice; you're the sort of hopeless case that gives failure a bad name!"

_Very nice…_Kirk thought. "You've a face like a million dollars; All green and wrinkled" he retorted.

The Gilligan responded just as quickly; "That's actually a compliment to our race, dumbass! If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?"

"Well yo mama is SO stupid, she tried to alphabetize a bag of M&Ms!"

The Gilligan raised an eyebrow. "Yo mama is so stupid, she thought a quarterback was a refund!"

Kirk glanced back at Jiando, who wore an expression of amusement on his scaly face. _This is taking too long! We need out NOW!_ "Well, at least _my_ mother STILL LOVES ME!" he grinned.

The Gilligan charged him, tackling him to the ground. "DO NOT INSULT MY MOTHER!" it growled, and in a very low undertone, it whispered, "It's me, Dad. Like my insults?"

"You'll never take me alive!" "Yeah, I did! Chip off the old block! You've improved!"

"That's the point, pitiful human!" "Thanks!"

"So you'll never take me dead!" "So what's the plan, Mads?"

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" "We're...working on it. Bryce is talking to Jiando now, trying to convince him to let us 'take care of you.'"

"Not on MY watch!" "So you're just _winging it_?"

"Maybe not YOUR watch, but definitely on mine!" "Yeah, basically."

"That's enough!" Jiando's cry echoed throughout the cell. Spock stirred, and turned over, but did not wake from his ill slumber.

The large Gilligan looked down at the dueling pair before him. The action had ceased, and both beings stared up at him, Kirk with one of his escorts' arms between his teeth, and the escort's paw pressed against Kirk's throat.

"These two need to be taken care of. Today," Jiando squawked.

The Gilligan that Kirk identified as Lieutenant Li'mard stepped forward. "The two of us will keep them at bay, master," he volunteered.

"Who is this young one, anyway?" Jiando looked at the little Gilligan whose arm was in Kirk's mouth.

"My sister, Li'laila," Li'mard replied quickly. "She wanted to see how I did my job up close and personal."

Jiando nodded. "We will leave the executions to your capable hands. Come, let's away." And with that, Jiando and the rest of his escort turned out the door. "Wait a moment…" Jiando paused. "We land on our home planet in a half hour. Be done by then."

Li'mard assented. "You can debug the room, master." He glared at the prisoners with a smirk. "It's not like we're going to need the bugs anymore. We can use this room for more crew members."

Jiando nodded and snapped his fingers. The two other escorts raced around the room, tapping at the walls. "There, Lieutenant. The room is debugged. Remember, a half hour!" Jiando waggled his finger, and they left for good.

As soon as the door clanged shut, Maddie got off of her father, who sprung at Li'mard. "You shoot his chest! I'll hold him down!" Kirk started punching at the Gilligan. "You think you have the right to try to take this all away from me? Do you? Do you, punk?"

"Dad! Get off of him!" Maddie cried earnestly.

"Jim! Jim! It's me! It's Bryce!"

Kirk froze, his fist moments away from sending the beak deep into the Gilligan's head. Terrified eyes gazed back at him; they were so familiar…too familiar…

"Bryce?" Kirk whispered.

The Gilligan nodded. "The real Li'mard is dead. Ly killed him. He came aboard our ship, and I guess Ly shot him." He turned to the Maddie-Gilligan, who was bent over Spock. "I still want to know how they detected us, by the way, through your cloaking device."

Maddie shrugged. "Who knows? Who cares? We should get out of here."

Kirk let Bryce up, and he raced over to where Maddie was kneeling before his father.

Bryce tapped Spock's shoulder, and almost felt tears spring to his eyes as the strong Vulcan flinched. His eyes snapped open, glazed with fever, and a weak hand reached up and grasped Bryce around the throat. "You…think…I can't take any more? Think…again…"

"D-dad…" Bryce choked out. "We've come to help you! We're getting you out of here!"

Spock glared and clenched his hand tighter. "This…isn't working!" Bryce coughed. "Help!"

"Hold on!" Maddie yelped. She drew her palm pilot, and aimed it at Bryce. "And…_revert_!"

The beam shot and faded, and Spock found himself grasping at his terrified son's throat.

"Hi, Dad," Bryce grinned awkwardly, raising his eyebrows.

It depressed Adonis, Amanda, and Brendan, still in Brendan's surveillance room on the _Enterprise_, to see through Bryce's eyes the harsh conditions that Kirk and Spock had been forced to endure.

Tears trickled down Amanda's face as she saw her father, dying, eyes glazed over, flinching in pain at the slightest touch.

Adonis growled. "I'll kill them. I'll kill them all…"

Doctor McCoy, passing by, heard this threat and instantly turned around. He strolled into Brendan's room. "What are you doing?" he asked the three young people sitting at the computer monitors.

His gaze caught the image of Spock on one of the monitors, and his daughter, Lyric, on the other. "Ly! Can you hear me?"

Lyric turned her head to the camera. "Dad? What are you doing?"

"I heard Ado make a threat and had to see why. Do you see what Spock looks like?"

"Yeah, Dad. He's strangling Bryce at the minute because he thought he was a Gilligan."

"Did he _look_ like a Gilligan?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. What I mean is, he couldn't pick it up in his mind, which is what worries me."

"Doctor?" Amanda whimpered, tugging on Bones' shirt. "If they get back in time, will you save them both? Jim may not look it, but he is very injured."

Bones thumped her on the back of the head. "I'm a doctor, not a sadist, Amanda!" he growled.

Amanda nodded sheepishly. "Sorry." She turned to Brendan. "Can we put Bat Out Of Hell back on?"

Brendan shook his head. "It'll only distract them."

Bones grimaced. "We can only watch." He sat down on a chair, but stood up again. "Who wants popcorn?"

"Ly! What's the best way out of here?" Maddie's voice came over the speaker in Lyric's ear.

"Ummm…" Ly clacked at the buttons.

The screen in front of her went black.

Lyric's jaw dropped. "Maddie…I can't see the map…or anything."

"You broke my ship?" Maddie cried.

"Not the ship…per se…unless the monitor's the ship, I didn't break it."

"Great! Just great!"

Bryce's Gilligan eyes widened as he lugged his father through the halls of the enemy ship. "What do we do now?" he whispered.

"We wing it," Maddie grimaced.

They had passed reptilian after reptilian, each of whom wanted 'a crack at' the prisoners. They had bashed Kirk and Spock each on the head, leaving them both unconscious by the seventh blow.

"Look!" Maddie hissed. She had seen a Gilligan driving a vehicle through a service hallway. The compartment in the back was empty.

Maddie's eyes glinted as the thought popped into her head. She reached into her bag, though it looked like she was handling her crossbow, and drew out a tiny phaser. She pulled the trigger.

"Nothing happened, Maddie!" Bryce murmured.

"Oh no? Look there," she pointed to the Gilligan driver, who had fallen over his steering wheel, unconscious.

"How…?"

"Gilligans have sensitive…hearing holes. Hop in," Maddie sat in the passenger seat, holding her father steady in the back.

Bryce lifted Spock into the back with Kirk. Maddie shot the shape shifting beam at him, turning them back to pretty much normal. "How are we going to work this thing?" he asked.

Maddie shook her head. "Don't look at me! I'm trying not to let these two fall. You've got the keys, now shut up and drive!"

Bryce rolled his eyes and slid into the driver's seat. "The more Gilligans we run over, the better."

The ATV sped down the halls, and Bryce looked frantically around. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror. "Maddie! What did you do to me?" The black hair and slanted eyebrows did _not_ fit his face.

"You look like a Vulcan now, in case…"

"We're getting back to the _Leviathan_! There is no need for this!"

"Well, too bad! You're keeping the look for now!"

The ATV slowed down and coughed to a halt. "Oh, great! Out of gas!"

Maddie whipped her head to view behind her. Gilligans galore were trooping down the hall. "Look! There they are! They have the prisoners! Get them!"

"We're on foot from here, Bryce!" Maddie yelped, dragging her father out of the back. Bryce grabbed Spock, who was easy to carry; he had lost weight to the poison and starvation, no doubt.

"Hold on, Dad. We're almost there…" _I hope…_

"I see the doors! We're going to make it!" Maddie cried as phaser shots fired over their heads.

They passed another corridor, and Bryce felt his ankle catch on something. He cascaded to the floor, flinging his father in front of him. He tried to get up, but his ankle was bleeding and refused to move an inch, and he fell back with a yelp of pain.

"Trip wire, Maddie!" he screamed at the frightened girl who had spun around to face him and was now dragging him by the arm. "Take him! Go!"

"I can't just ditch you here!"

"Just go!"

"Bryce!" Maddie shrieked desperately. "I won't leave you!"

"You have no choice!" he yelled back, pulling his arm out of her grip. "Get out of here! Take Spock and tell Lyric to step on it!"

Maddie picked up the unconscious Vulcan and backed up as Gilligans flooded the hall. They were making a beeline for the teenage Vulcan who seemed incapacitated on the floor. The rendezvous point was five feet away.

Bryce decided, bad ankle or not, that he had to get to that door. He propelled himself forward as quickly as he could.

Four feet away, three, two, one…

_Come on, come on!_

"Bryce!"

A heavy Gilligan landed on Bryce's back, pinning him down. His head was jerked up by the uncharacteristic black hair.

The door was closing.

"Let him go!" Maddie hollered. "Get off of him!"

As the opening of light into the rendezvous point shrunk fast, Maddie dropped to the floor. "Bryce!"

Bryce's brown eyes gazed sadly back at her. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. I'm sorry, Maddie." He shot his childhood friend a last forlorn smile, and then everything was dark.


	22. Captive

Bryce, ultimately, felt guilty. Guilty that he hadn't tried harder to get away, guilty that he had let this oaf of a Gilligan weigh him down. "I'm so sorry," he murmured, too soft for anyone to hear. He felt his shirt rub against his chest as he was dragged away from the rendezvous point, away from freedom.

_Now what am I going to do?_

A click resounded through the tic-tac; Brendan had pressed play again.

"And like a sinner....before....the gates of Heaven I'll come crawling on back to you....."

Bryce instantly felt heat in his cheeks. _Shut up, Brendan... _

A British accent murmured, "Sorry!" and the music instantly was silenced.

He heard a voice echo in his ear; _YOU SONOFABITCH! I'LL FLAY YOU! WRAP YOUR GREEN SCALY SLIMY SKIN AROUND A POLE AND HANG IT IN MY DORM ROOM!_ Ado, no doubt.

Bryce furrowed his brow as a crunching sound filled his head. _What the hell?_

"Sorry, buddy!" Brendan muttered. "Doctor McCoy is having popcorn. Ya better not getta crumma that stuff on my carpet, mind."

Bryce sighed. _I have to get out of here! But how? My right ankle's probably sprained._ A new thought dawned on him. As a last-ditch effort, tried kicking the leg he still had feeling in. He felt it make contact with what seemed to be a Gilligan head.

In his peripheral vision, Bryce spied another Gilligan turn around to see the brawl.

"What's he doing? Knock him out, cadet."

The hands on his leg released him, and Bryce instantly turned onto his stomach and started pushing himself forward.

_Bryce!_ Brendan cried into his ear. _Ly tells me to tell you to act Vulcan! You know, just in case they picked up the detector…_

Confused, Bryce paused. In his moment of hesitation, the Gilligan yanked his leg up into the air again.

Pain shot through Bryce's leg from his wounded ankle. He wished he could let out a yelp or a scream, but he remembered Brendan's advice, so he only hissed and tried swinging his other leg again.

A hollow laugh echoed through Bryce's pointed ears. "You've got spunk, kid. I'll give you that."

Bryce felt a club bang his head, and darkness covered his eyes.

* * *

"I've lost his signal!" Brendan cried. "He's unconscious!" He continued to tap at the keyboard, hoping to restore connections with Bryce's communications device, but to no avail.

"Oh great. This is just _awesome_! They rescue our captain and our first officer, who just _happens_ to be my father, and my brother won't be coming back to bask in his heroic glory! Oh, this is just great, great, GREAT!" Adonis paced around Brendan's room, running his hands through his hair.

Amanda opened and closed her fists as the scene played over and over in her mind.

Doctor McCoy held the bag of popcorn out to her. "Want some?"

Before Amanda could reply, Brendan's door slid open, and a red-faced, dark-haired boy appeared in the opening. "Hey, guys. What'd I miss?"

"Hey, Jeremy!" Brendan called. "Where have you been?"

If possible, Jeremy Spindler's face turned a deeper shade of red. "I was locked in a closet…"

Ado blinked. "Dude, what were you doing in a closet?"

Jeremy stretched out his arms, showing the duct tape on his sleeves, and the angry red rash creeping up his wrists. "Someone snuck aboard the _Leviathan_ before she took off! I saw them going near it, just before Uhura went on, and I swerved in front of them. I told them to turn back; that they didn't have a right to be in the hangar."

"So they laughed and locked you in the closet?" Bones guessed through a mouth full of popcorn.

Jeremy nodded.

"But who snuck aboard?" Adonis asked.

Jeremy turned bright crimson.

"Jeremy! Who snuck aboard the _Leviathan_?"

* * *

Lyric tapped at the keyboard, trying to get the tracking monitor back on line. When the screen stayed blank, she shook her head. "Maddie? Are you okay?"

_Y…yeah. I guess so. Prepare to beam up two in my immediate vicinity._

"Only two? Aren't you beaming up?"

_No._

"Why not?"

_I'm going to get Bryce back._

"Maddie…" Lyric swallowed. "Bryce made his choices. I heard what he said. He told you to go."

_Do you honestly think that I'm going to just…leave him behind?_

"What do I know? I'm just the doctor. Energizing."

As the glimmering particles began to appear on the bridge, a red-haired head poked out from the supply room. Lyric, so absorbed in getting a gurney or two, didn't notice.

Kirk and Spock took shape in two collapsed heaps on the bridge. Lyric hoisted Spock onto a gurney, which wasn't hard, and wheeled him over to the mini sick bay. She then went back for Kirk.

Kirk, coming to from his recent bout of unconsciousness, blinked and stared around. He realized he could feel the pain in his still-opened wounds, which meant he was still alive.

"Ah, Jim. You're awake." He peered up at the young doctor who was offering him her hand. "Let me help you to the medical wing." She slid her arm under his, and hoisted him off the floor.

"Ly…" Kirk blinked off the increasing pain. "Where's…Maddie?" he groaned, wincing at the pressure on his wounds.

"She went to chase after Bryce and save his ass," Lyric answered.

Kirk's glazed blue eyes widened, and his eyebrows arced into his forehead. "Alone?"

Lyric cocked her head. "Yeah…why?" she dragged out, sending Kirk into a frenzy.

"She can't be alone! She's an autophobe!" he cried, and let out a cough. He started trembling, and was limp in Ly's arms.

"Wait!" Ly's panicked yelp pierced the non-listening air. "What does that mean?" She dragged the unconscious Kirk over to a cot and set him down gently.

"Okay, Lyric! Think!" She paced around the cockpit. "Phobe…a phobia…it's a fear…a paralyzing fear…but of what?" Lyric stroked her chin. "Um…think…auto…what the hell does that root mean? Think bio…auto…autotroph…feeds itself…auto means SELF!"

Despite her predicament, Lyric was pleased with herself. "Fear of herself?" she shook her head. "Can't be it…what else? Self…herself…um…"

Something that Kirk had said echoed in her mind;

_She can't be alone!_

"BY herself!" Lyric cried. "Oh. My. God. Fear of being alone!"

* * *

Maddie had left the rendezvous point seven minutes before. She clutched her invisible teddy bear tightly. It stopped the swarming Gilligans from seeing her, but it didn't prevent _her_ from seeing _them_. Faces had teemed around her, clouding her vision.

She had searched desperately for a familiar face to grasp, but the reptilian beaks, skins, and horns surrounded her. _She_ was the alien there.

A choking feeling had risen in her throat, and she had ducked into a small, unused room.

So, now, here she was, rocking on the floor, eyes wide, and humming to herself, trying to stay calm.

The faces…the faces…they flooded her head. She searched for someone, anyone she knew, but only saw the backs of their heads. Short brown hair cascading to shoulders…a ginger-brown spiked mop…a black rounded haircut over pointed ears…a brown ponytail high up on a head…blonde short spikes. Soon, even the backs of the heads seemed to drown amongst the reptilians. They were leaving her…he was leaving her again! She tried to chase them down, like when she was a kid, but her legs felt like lead, and the Gilligans were trampling her.

"No…" Maddie coughed. "No! No! No!"

"Maddie!" A faint voice broke into her terror.

"No! D-don't leave me!" she whimpered. "Don't go…"

"Maddie!" Lyric cried into the microphone. "Snap out of it!"

At first, Maddie, locked in a trance, didn't hear, and tears began to well up in her eyelids. Then, her friend's voice echoed through her brain, and her eyes dried up.

"Ly?" she whispered. "But…"

"Why did you never _tell_ me that you couldn't be alone? I mean, I always knew you were a bit clingy, but…"

"I…I thought you wouldn't be my friend anymore."

"You saw it as a weakness, huh?"

"I…guess I did. But a phobia _is_ a weakness…isn't it?"

Lyric had to think about that one. "Only if you want it to be," she chose her words carefully. That seemed to be enough.

"Thanks, Ly. For everything," Maddie rose off the floor and looked outside the room to see if the coast was clear. "I have business to take care of."

"Be careful, Maddie."

"Don't worry about me, Ly. We'll be fine."

* * *

Lyric sat down in her engineer's chair. _Hmm…I wonder if Maddie programmed any games on here?_ While she searched for pinball or solitaire, a flash of red caught her eye. She gripped her phaser, whirled around, and came face to face with…

Claire Lanade.

"What the HELL are _you_ doing here?" Lyric snarled at Claire, backed up against the wall.

"I-I thought I could be of some help," Claire whimpered. "I wanted to prove to Bryce that I'm not _completely_ useless."

Lyric sighed and lowered her phaser.

"What can I do to help?"

"You can man the conn," Ly rose from her seat. "You're more prone to the engineering stuff. I'm probably needed in the medical bay." Her argument was backed up when a bloodcurdling cry echoed from the tiny room. "That's my cue!" Lyric yelped and raced over to the cots.

Claire's eyes widened, and she examined the controls. "Enterprise, this is Cadet Lanade. Do you copy?"

Adonis grinned, and snatched the bluetooth from Brendan's ear. "I copy!" he shouted. "Enterprise, this is Cadet Lanade. Do you copy?" Ado grinned and nearly collapsed into silent snickers.

"She didn't mean it _literally_," Amanda hissed at her brother.

As the twins began to fight, Claire sighed and shook her head. These two could only be Bryce's siblings; she was sure no one else would -or could- put up with them.

"Brendan," she called. "Any readings on Bryce? Is he awake yet?"

Brendan clacked away at his computer and shot glances up at the video screens. One out of the two still remained blank.

"Not picking up any visuals…or mentals," he reported. He let out a breath and reclined in his chair.

"Naturally," Bones muttered. All this time, his face had been stuffed with popcorn.

"Excuse me," Jeremy inquired. "But what's that?"

Brendan sat up and examined Jeremy's pointing finger. A small crescent of light had appeared on Bryce's monitor. As they watched, the opening grew wider. A soft mental groan resounded through the surveillance room speakers.

"Claire!" Brendan cried. "We've got something! He's coming to!"

* * *

Bryce blinked, and tried to reach his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He found that his hands were bound behind his back at the wrists and a rope laced around his chest, strapping him to a chair.

_Oh, that's just great,_ he thought. Examining his surroundings, he found that his legs were crossed at the ankles and bound to opposite sides of a pole in front of him. He was in a different cell than his father was; it was smaller and had more light. The walls did not reflect his desires.

He also noticed his gloves, phaser, and osmosis bracelet were gone.

As he was devising a way to get out of this predicament, the steel door slid open. The Gilligan Bryce recognized as Jiando stepped in. He spoke cheerily yet with an ounce of.

"Hello, Vulcan."

* * *

Jiando scrutinized the young Vulcan sitting in front of him. The boy blinked slowly, as if studying him.

"Why are you here?" Jiando asked, to which the boy responded, "I am not at liberty to tell you," and still remained calm.

"Wrong answer. You were caught helping two prisoners and one other humanoid escape." He paused. "Who was that female humanoid?"

The Vulcan shrugged. 'I am unsure of the creature's gender or race, only the fact that it is humanoid. It was merely a random chance that we did meet up here."

"What is your name?"

"Silenus," the boy replied.

"And how old are you?"

Jiando could see that he had thought for a second before he answered. "I am nineteen years of age."

"Really… So, tell me, Vulcan. Why aren't you with the rest of your species, trying to rebuild their colony on the other end of the galaxy? Why are you here?"

"When Vulcan imploded, my parents were doing research on Earth, and naturally, I was accompanying them. We were unsure of the new colony's location and, after the research was completed two months ago, we set out to find the closest Vulcan we could to show us the way."

"So that Vulcan was Spock," Jiando guessed. The boy's story was…convincing, but Jiando was still unsure of its truth value. He'd play along…for now.

"Precisely," the Vulcan nodded.

"Tell me, what are these?" Jiando snapped his claws and three of his men stepped inside, bearing items found on the Vulcan's person. One held the boy's gloves, another held a rubber bracelet, and yet another carried a phaser.

"That is a phaser," the Vulcan responded, which earned him a claw to the face. Though he blinked hard, he kept his poker face.

"Yes, we understand that," Jiando snarled. "But what does it _do_?"

"When the trigger is pulled, it releases a blast that stuns or kills the victim." Jiando blinked; he thought he had detected a note of boredom in the young Vulcan's voice. _That's impossible_, he thought, and dismissed the thought from his head.

"That's it? No nasty surprises?"

The Vulcan thought for a moment, and shook his head. "Not that I can recall."

"Never you mind, then. What about these?" Jiando motioned to a guard, who held up the gloves.

"They are to keep my hands warm."

"Really? Are your hands really that cold?" Jiando reached for the Vulcan's hand to, perhaps, check his pulse as well and…see if his blood really _was_ that green, copper-based substance that had oozed out of Spock.

Silenus pulled away as best he could. "I would not advise that," he warned. "Unless you would like to be kissing me. Vulcans kiss with their hands; in truth, the hands are the most sensitive part of the anatomy. So, if you could please put my gloves back on, it would be much appreciated. It is rather frigid in this solitary confinement." Silenus blinked, waiting patiently.

Jiando scowled and slid the gloves onto his hands, at which Silenus nodded. "Thank you," he responded.

"Forget that," Jiando snarled. "This rubber bracelet; it has odd writing upon it. O-S-M-O…what is its purpose?"

"It is a motivational bracelet," Silenus answered. "One to…raise awareness of a cause."

"And what exactly _is_ this cause?"

"The Organization for the Start of Martial Openness." Silenus shrugged. "O-S-M-O. It was given to me as, ah, a…" he searched for a term. "Good luck charm."

Jiando grinned through his beak. "Well, put it back on his wrist then, but make sure he can't fiddle with it. He'll need all of the luck he can get around here. We land on Gilligan in ten minutes."

"Where I will be executed." Silenus' voice dropped to be soft. He did not ask, merely presumed his fate.

Jiando nodded. "Indeed. We intended on having two executions instead of one, however, our people will simply have to settle for a filthy Vulcan." And with that, he turned to leave.

"Wait."

Jiando stopped. "Do you have information for us?" he asked hopefully.

"No. Only a last request."

Jiando pondered that for a moment. "Speak then."

"I wish for the room to be debugged."

"Why?"

"I must meditate. You will want me calm for my execution, will you not? The calmer one is, the less likely they are to resist."

"And you require the debugging of the room because…?"

"The buzzing hurts my ears, and besides," Silenus blinked. "Who else would I be talking to? This is _solitary_ confinement."

"Very well, Vulcan. You have your wish." Jiando pressed a panel on the wall, and the bugs were turned off. "Have fun!" And with that last good wish, he departed from the strange Vulcan.


	23. Burn

_I am going to die._

The realization dropped heavily in Bryce's mind.

He had lied. He had heard no buzzes to be annoyed by, and was no way in hell going to be meditating. He wasn't even cold. He just wanted to be left alone to think and try to get out of here.

_They are going to kill me._

He shook his head. _No._ _Not if I can help it_.

"Cheer up, pal!" Brendan ordered. "I've got just the thing!"

"Oh, no more music!" Bryce pleaded desperately, but to no avail.

"I want to break free. I want to break free. I want to break free from your lies. You're so self satisfied I don't need you. I've got to break free. God knows: God knows I want to break free."

"Brendan! This isn't helping! Stop!" Bryce cried. "Please." But Brendan didn't listen.

"I've fallen in love. I've fallen in love for the first time, And this time I know it's for real. I've fallen in love yeah, God knows: God knows I've fallen in love!"

"Brendan!" Bryce hollered.

Brendan lowered his head and stopped the music. "I…I thought it would help…"

"It doesn't. Sorry. Where's Ado?" His brother had been strangely quiet…

"Oh, he, Amanda, and Doctor McCoy went to play Rock Band in the lounge."

Bryce's jaw gaped.

"Something wrong, mate?"

"They're playing Rock Band?" Bryce frowned.

"Yeah…"

"Without _me_?"

Brendan had to laugh; at least his friend could keep his sense of humor in his situation.

"I have to get out of here!" He hoped Ado hadn't taken his microphone; and hopefully his brother knew who was still the best at Living On A Prayer.

Bryce analyzed his situation carefully. The pole that his feet were chained to was not too high…maybe…

Sucking in his stomach and twisting his torso, Bryce struggled in his bindings. Eventually, he managed to turn over in the chair, but his arms were still linked to the back. They were at a painfully awkward angle.

Bryce gritted his teeth and forced his now-correctly placed legs over the pole. He twisted again to a sitting position, feet flat on the floor.

_Now what?_

* * *

Maddie raced through the walls of the unfamiliar ship. "Ly!" she hissed. "Can you get a reading on his location?"

"Maddie?"

Madison stopped dead in her tracks, one foot in one room, the other in another. "_Claire_?" she cried in surprise. Astonished, she shook her head and kept running. "What are you doing on my ship?"

"Trying to help! Now, what do you need?"

"A reading! Something! Anything!"

Claire tapped at the computer. "Still nothing. Brendan tells me he's awake though…he didn't dare say anything at risk of Bryce breaking his cover."

"Cover?" Maddie was confused.

"Bryce is posing as a Vulcan, so that those Gilligan bastards don't figure out who he really is."

Maddie froze. "Bryce _hates_ lying!"

Lyric, in the medical wing, couldn't stand her friend's incompetence any longer. She put down the bandage she was holding and pressed the intercom. "Thank you, Captain Obvious! This is why you need to chill out and get going if you want to get Ginger back!"

"Right! Going!" Maddie took off again and found herself in a different brig. Doors lined the hall and machines whirred.

"Oh, this is just great."

Opening her bag, Maddie glanced around carefully. When the coast was clear, she stuck her head inside to peer around.

_Maddie! What are you doing?_

"Flamethrower…no…don't need a book right now…aha! There you are!" she cried, and pulled out…

Her teddy bear.

Grinning widely, she hugged the bear affectionately and disappeared.

* * *

"So, the Master has something special planned for our little Vulcan guest before his execution," the Gilligan sighed as the two friends conversed while striding through the hall.

"Really, Ki'taim?" his friend replied. "What?"

"I don't know," the one called Ki'taim answered honestly. "All I understand is that I must fetch him in ten minutes and bring him to chamber 102."

His friend furrowed his brow in thought, and shook his head. "Nope. Never been in that room. Wonder what's going on."

"Me too."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know…"

"Will you get to see inside?"

"Better. I'll probably get to stay," Ki'taim pondered aloud excitedly. "I'll tell you what happens, okay, Ni'iri?"

"Definitely! I'll see you later! Hey, Paam! Guess who won the bauman! You owe me twenty credits!" A muffled 'aw-man!' rang out from another hallway.

As the Gilligans went their separate ways, a new figure shimmered into existence behind them. Her brow was furrowed, yet her eyes were wide and fearful.

"Execution?" Maddie yelped. "Oh man, he's in trouble…"

She raced off down the hall. _I have to get there before Ki'taim does!_

When she reached a lighted part of the corridor, Maddie slowed down. "Now, Ginger, which one are you in?" Fiddling with her bracelet, she slid through a wall, and turned up in an empty cell.

"One down; About fifty to go," she muttered, and raced through the opposite wall.

About forty-two rooms later, Maddie stopped to catch her breath. She checked her watch; it had been seven minutes. That means she had run through six rooms a minute.

"Crap!" she cried. "I won't make it!"

Sighing, she charged through the wall…and stopped short.

* * *

Bryce had long since given up his struggle against his bindings. His wrists were, no doubt, rubbed red. He felt them chafing. Why'd they have to shove that Livestrong bracelet so far up his arm anyway? Why not make things easier for him?

Dejected, he had started to hum Living On A Prayer. "Tommy used to work on the do-o-ocks…Union's been on strike, he's down on his luck, it's tough. So tough." As he got to one of the choruses (Ohhhh! We're halfway the-ere! Whoooooah! Livin' on a pra-ayer!), a voice broke in.

"I guess forty-third time's the charm, huh?"

Bryce snapped his head up to see his childhood friend grinning widely and staring down at him.

"Maddie…" he choked. "What are you doing here? I told you to go!"

"Honestly, Bryce," Maddie rolled her eyes. "Did you think I was going to listen?" Not waiting to hear an answer, Maddie crouched behind Bryce's chair to work at the bindings on his wrists.

Bryce felt pressure on his wrists, and was sure his hands were losing circulation. He heard Maddie whistle. "What?" he asked.

"You must be a top priority prisoner or something." She had come back around to face him, a worried mask on her face. "Or they probably wouldn't have wrapped your wrists in ion shackles and coated them with metal." She rapped on the cuffs, which clanged. "I don't have the right tools to spring you."

Bryce grinned halfheartedly. "Thanks for trying though. _Now_ will you listen to me and get yourself out of here? They don't have much time left," he added as Maddie opened her mouth to protest. "You and Ly have to leave."

"I won't leave you," Maddie stated firmly.

Bryce was about to interject and get his friend to reconsider when steel door scraped on the floor. Maddie whirled around in a panic, and looked back. Fear shone in her eyes.

"I _can't_ leave you!" she whispered. Bryce looked away. "They said you're going to be executed, but with a surprise before that!" she cried quickly. "I don't know what that means! I'm scared for you," she admitted, blinking.

"Get out of here," he insisted, stretching his leg to kick Maddie through the wall, giving her a reassuring, but totally fake, smile. "I'll be fine."

"No, you won't," she whimpered, but dissolved through the wall, leaving Bryce alone.

* * *

As Ado and Amanda reached the lounge, Bones arched his back. Why was he coming here again? He didn't even like Rock Band. He was a doctor, for crying out loud, not a musician. Oh yes…he was doing this to keep these two occupied. Who knew what Ado could do if he put his mind to it?

"I shot microphone!" Adonis cried. Amanda sat in her usual chair, guitar slung across her chest. Her shoulders caved forward and her eyes widened as if in shock.

"B-but Bryce always gets the mic…" she mewled.

Ado gave a fake chuckle. "Yeah! May as well take the opportunity while he's not here!"

"But you've got a horrible singing voice!" Amanda whined. "I don't want you breaking _another_ glass! At least Bryce could hold a tune…" she added in an undertone.

Adonis pursed his lips. "Bones," he declared. "You're on drums!"

Bones raised an eyebrow. "Drums? Why?"

"Because I'm on microphone, Amanda's on guitar, and we don't need a bass, so you're on drums," Ado explained, looking bored.

Exasperated, Bones gave in. He sat down at the fake drum set and tried to twirl the sticks between his fingers. Ado and Amanda tried not to laugh when they clattered out of the doctor's fingers.

"Doctors can't do anything but cause pain! Why don't we put you on easy?" they chuckled.

"Or expert, Ado grinned darkly. "Just to see how he can do."

"Hey! Wait just a damn minute!"

In the end, Bones' drums were on expert.

Adonis scrolled down to a song choice and smiled. "Through the Fire and Flames. Excellent. This song has a major entering solo, so be careful."

Bones nodded. "Got it."

A girl playing 3-D chess with a friend turned around. "Good luck," she remarked sarcastically. "You're going to need it. I've seen Ado play. He's really good," she blushed.

Amanda turned her head to her brother, who had turned a deep, deep red. "Don't drop the microphone," she told her numb twin, barely holding back giggles.

Bones rolled his eyes. "Teenagers."

Ado swallowed. "Um…you really think I'm…good, Charlie?" he asked nervously

Charlie ducked her head. "Yup…"

"Earth to Romeo! Earth to Romeo!" Amanda cried, waving her hand in front of Adonis' face. "Song's starting, bro. You wanted to _see_ McCoy make a fool of himself, right?"

Adonis shook himself and turned around. "Right." He grinned. "Ready, Bones?"

Bones furrowed his eyebrows. "I guess."

Ado and Amanda grinned widely as the first notes came on screen. Their smiles instantly faded when the doctor hit every note with ease. His hands flew around, smashing down on the panels. His foot slammed down on the step, always on cue.

Ado almost forgot to sing when the words came on.

Amanda was lucky she brought her soundproof headphones…

Bones grinned mischievously, cupping his hand around his ear. "Now…what was that you said before? What? I can't hear you!"

"Bones…" Adonis gaped in awe when the percentages came on screen. "You just got a perfect score…on the hardest song in the game!"

Amanda's eyes widened and she put her guitar on the floor in reverence.

McCoy twirled his drumsticks between his fingers successfully this time. "Who said doctors can't do anything but cause pain?"

* * *

"Alright, Vulcan. Before we kill you, we've got a little something special planned. Hey…" Ki'taim noticed. "How'd you get your feet undone?" The Gilligan seemed thoroughly puzzled.

"I _have_ a name," Bryce commented. "And I would prefer to be addressed under such."

Ki'taim groaned exasperatedly. "Fine then, what's your name?"

"Silenus."

"Okay, then, _Silenus_. How'd you get your feet undone?"

Bryce shrugged to the best of his ability. "It must have been while I was meditating. I didn't notice."

"Right…" Ki'taim scratched his head, but shook himself out of his confusion. "You're coming with me, and cooperating too. Got it memorized?"

Bryce raised an eyebrow. "You sound like an old video game character."

Ki'taim dug his claw into Bryce's chest. "Got. It. MEMORIZED?"

"Yes," Bryce replied.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I am coming with you, and cooperating too," he blinked, wanting to let the boredom he felt out in his words.

He felt the ion shackles fall off his wrists and the rope on his chest grow slack. "Come on, Vulcan," the Gilligan growled, violently pushing Bryce out of his chair. He fell to the floor with a thud. Being pulled up by the arm, he was dragged out the door and down the hall. "We're going to chamber 102."

"What exactly is in it?" Bryce asked, raising an eyebrow. He could feel a pair of eyes trained on him, and it made him nervous.

"You're going to have to just wait and see."

"Then I take it you don't know either."

The Gilligan ground his beak. "I have orders, and I plan on following up. If you don't like it, I could just shoot you here."

"No thank you," Bryce replied, almost too quickly.

Ki'taim nodded. "I thought so. Here we are!" he added brightly. He leaned into a panel near the door. "Ensign Ki'taim reporting. I am here with our Vulcan…guest. Permission to enter?"

A metallic voice resounded back, "Permission granted." With a buzz, the door slid open, and Ki'taim shoved Bryce inside. Losing his balance after such a sudden jolt, he tripped and crumpled to the floor.

Maybe they would just let him lay here for all eternity, make him a zoo attraction.

Apparently, the Gilligans had other plans. As soon as Bryce had fallen and was beginning to lift his head, they set upon him with chains and shackles. They lifted his head up by his hair to put something around his neck.

"Is this truly…" Bryce coughed as the shackle seemed to constrict. "Necessary?"

Jiando, in the shadows, stepped out and admired his men's handiwork. "Simply precautions, Vulcan," he spat at his 'guest,' chained at the wrists, neck, and ankles, with ropes snaking, weaving all around his bare torso.

_What? Where'd my shirt go?_ "Don't you think you are overreacting a little?"

Jiando raised an eyebrow. "Was that…sarcasm?"

Bryce shook his head as much as he could. "No."

"Good. Take the ropes off, but leave the shackles. Strap him in."

Bryce found himself handled less than gently; he was being forced to put weight onto his wounded ankle. He was jostled backwards and pressed against a flat block of metal, cold against his back. New shackles materialized and bolted him down, keeping his head straight. As Bryce's eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw a slight red glow, gradually growing stronger. His ears, less sensitive than Spock's, for sure, picked up a humming noise coming front of him.

"What…" he began, but was cut off with a claw to the face. He wanted to roar with pain, but remembered his cover. The claw had dug into the flesh near Bryce's now-straight hairline; he could feel the coppery green blood dripping into his eyes.

Blinking away the blood, Bryce could see Jiando's outlined form standing behind another block of metal. His eyes widened as he saw the source of the red glow. Bright red rods hummed and let off light and heat; Bryce could feel it radiating.

"Are you going to cooperate?"

_I've been cooperating, haven't I?_ Bryce was tempted to answer. "Possibly."

A claw slashed again, this time hitting the corner of his mouth. Subtly, he traced the wound with his tongue. There was a scratch-it would probably leave a small scar. The copper stung his tongue; he hoped he wouldn't pass out. Bryce had never been good with coping with blood.

"I need a definite, Vulcan," the Gilligan growled.

Bryce grit his teeth. "Yes."

Jiando's beak split with glee. "Then, for being such a good boy," he pinched Bryce's cheek and pulled, making Bryce's face shake with discomfort. "I'm going to tell you what's in store for you."

_Yippee._ Bryce only nodded.

"And I might even give you a choice of method of execution."

_Wonderful._

"We have," Jiando consulted his trackpad. "Stabbing, drowning, boiling in oil, decapitation, lethal injection…Which arm would you like it, should you choose this?"

"Your arm, preferably."

"Ha ha, nice try, Vulcan," Jiando giggled. "We also have strangulation, electric chair, hanging, pelting rocks at you, and oh! This is a favorite of mine! Bungee jumping…without the cord! You may also be crushed, have a live dissection, be burned at the stake…There's trampling, suffocation, bludgeoning and beating, impalation…" He frowned. "I think that's it. What's your pick? Or would you prefer to choose when we're done here?"

He waited for a minute.

Bryce was in total shock. _I don't want to die!_

"I take it by your silence that you wish to think on the matter? So be it." Jiando shrugged and tapped in some commands on a panel behind the rods.

Bryce tried not to allow his eyes to widen as the glowing rods seemed to move towards him. The heat grew stronger and stronger.

"Amazed? We got this idea from a twentieth-century Earth saga; Star Wars."

Bryce tore his gaze away from the rods to stare up at his captor. He raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Episode five? The Empire Strikes Back?" Jiando prompted.

"Oh yeah!" a voice from the shadows cried. Bryce saw the outline of a pumped reptilian fist. "That one was the best! I liked it when Vader chopped Luke's hand off!"

Jiando continued. "Anyway, we didn't want to freeze you in carbonite, because what fun would that be? We used another torture method used on Han Solo."

The heat was almost unbearable. _No way is that thing getting any closer!_ Bryce craned his head back, trying to avoid the inevitable. He heard the Gilligans chuckling at his futile efforts.

The instant the twisted rods made contact with his skin made Bryce want to scream bloody murder. The heat was unbearable, and he grit his teeth to keep from crying out. He wanted to swear, he wanted to cry, he wanted to shout.

The sheet retracted, and Bryce's head flopped forward a little. His chest felt as if it were on fire, and he struggled to breathe.

"That was fun!" Jiando cried. "Let's try again, this time at a higher temperature!"

"He's only a kid!" a voice cried.

Jiando waggled a finger. "Until I hear him scream, we will not stop. If you will," he gestured to the control booth. "Just make sure not to kill him. We need him to die publicly, in front of the population."

The rods came closer and collided with Bryce's chest again. Agonizing pain wracked his nerves.

"That's going to leave a mark…" a Gilligan commented.

_This is going to hurt in the morning._

He clenched his teeth again, but a groan or a grunt escaped his lips.

The agony continued for a good twenty minutes. Maybe less; Bryce couldn't keep track. He refused to let a shriek of pain loose. In fact, his chest was becoming numb to the increasing heat. There would definitely be serious damage in the aftermath…

The heat was kicked up another notch, and Bryce felt a tear slide down his cheek.

It was instantly incinerated.

* * *

_Lyric! Lyric!_

_Lyric, love, did you see that?_

_Ly! Ly!_

Lyric's and Claire's jaws gaped as Maddie's and Brendan's panicked cries rang out through the _Leviathan_.

Ly finally got the strength to reply. "Y…yes. I saw that." She shook her head. "That's crazy. That boy is going to need serious surgery later…and synthetic skin."

She was sure Maddie's face was stained with tears; no doubt she had been following Bryce and had seen what had happened firsthand.

_Lyric, _Maddie choked. _How am I going to get him out of here?_

"I…I don't know. I honestly don't know." Lyric shook her head.

Maddie gasped. _That's okay, Ly!_

_I have an idea!_


	24. Pelt

Maddie flinched as she stood, invisible, beside the Gilligans, watching the torture get inflicted upon her childhood friend again and again.

Bryce's head finally flopped forward, and he breathed heavily. Maddie could tell he was struggling for every breath he took.

"He's just about to crack!" Jiando cried with glee. "Give it one more!"

"I can't do that, sir. Orders are orders." The machine powered down slowly, but significantly.

Maddie stepped out, closer to her gasping friend.

"What?" Jiando raged. "Whose orders?"

"Yours, sir. You said 'don't kill him.' One more shot of this would definitely stop his heart…wherever that is."

Jiando narrowed his eyes distastefully at Bryce. "Very well. Release," he commanded, and Bryce fell off the metal. Maddie raced over as quietly as she could, but froze when she heard a loud _clang_.

A metal track for the rods to move on had been beneath both sheets of metal the whole time.

Bryce had hit his head on it, and was not moving. He lay in a crumpled heap next to the machine that had almost cost him his life. His eyes remained open, staring at nothing, as a line of green blood oozed out of the back of his head pooled up on the floor, mingling with the thin trails of blood still trickling out of his mouth and forehead.

_No!_ Maddie screamed in her head. _No! No! No!_

Madison ran over to her fallen friend, gathering him up into her arms as inconspicuously as possible. "Bryce!" she cried softly, so the Gilligans couldn't hear. "I'm so sorry, Bryce! This is all my fault!" she sobbed as she shook him. "W…wake up!"

Bryce shivered and his eyes gazed weakly around, and she remembered; she was still invisible. He blinked softly and started to cough, and Madison ducked to avoid a glob of green, coppery blood that was hurled in her direction. The coughs became more urgent, and Maddie got the feeling he was trying to tell her something. She listened carefully, and the coughs formulated into words.

"Get…out…" Maddie, aware that Bryce couldn't see her, shook her head fiercely. _I won't leave you to die again!_

Jiando stepped forward, and Maddie, frightened, jumped backwards. She winced when she saw Bryce crumple back to the floor.

Guilt overcame her; she shouldn't have let him get into this situation in the first place. She should have ignored his orders he had shouted after he had fell over the trip wire. She should have-

"So, Vulcan, since we are, apparently, finished in here," Jiando muttered disappointedly. "Would you like to choose your method of execution?"

Maddie glared at the Gilligan, eyes filled with hatred. There was no way that Bryce, crumpled in a heap on the cold, metal ground, bleeding from his head, burning on his chest, trembling, twitching, jerking slightly, barely keeping his eyes open, unable to lift his head, would be able to stand, much less speak for himself.

"No answer?" Jiando blinked quizzically at the slightly spasming teenager. "Alrighty then, we'll just choose for you! Now, gents," he clapped his hands and turned to his five-Gilligan escort. "We're going to be picking the execution that will be the most fun to show the population. Anyone for decapitation?" There was no answer.

"Lethal injection?" No response.

"Impalation?" Nothing.

"Hurling off a cliff?" Nothing. Jiando's face fell; it was apparent that he wanted to hurl the young 'Vulcan' off a cliff very badly.

"Eh, I can be flexible," he shrugged. "How about bludgeoning and beating?" This got a favorable response.

"Harumph, harumph, harumph, harumph!"

"Hey," Jiando pointed into his escorts. "I didn't get a 'harumph' out of that guy!"

Maddie heard a soft thud, and an even softer "Harumph!"

"So we're all agreed? Bludgeoning and beating to death?" Jiando's beak parted in a grin, and he raised his pinky to the corner of his mouth. "Excellent." He kicked Bryce in the stomach, and Maddie heard him let out a soft whimper, which seemed to satisfy his captor.

"Let's move out!"

Madison could only watch as the escorts grabbed onto Bryce and dragged him out the door. From the way his head bobbed weakly and his legs flailed, she could tell he had long since lost consciousness, and was, therefore, unaware of his death sentence. The door slammed, and she was left alone again. Before she could begin her panic attack, she rang in the _Leviathan_ on the comm.

"L…Lyric? Claire? Did you see what just happened?"

Claire gulped. "I heard, anyway. That's horrible."

Lyric's gaze had been fixed on her tiny monitor in the medical wing. "Yeah, I saw. What's the plan you mentioned before, oh wonderful genius-slash-Mad Scientist?"

After explaining her ingenious plan to her friend, Maddie reached into her bag and withdrew her shapeshifter. She tapped in some commands, and pointed it at herself. When the beams faded, Maddie checked her reflection in the large sheet of metal that had once held a burning prisoner. She grinned in satisfaction.

Perfect.

* * *

"Zhough eet's cold and lonely een zhe deep, dark, niiiiight…I ken see paradise by zhe Russian light…"

Bones' head jerked up as he heard Chekov humming. "What the hell are you singing? And why?" he snapped, confused.

Chekov blushed. "Amanda and Adonis…zhey vere singing eet een zhe lounge. Amanda finally shtole zhe microphone from Ado…"

"Wait, they're _still_ playing that godforsaken game?"

"What?" Uhura's head snapped up. "Ado and Amanda are _here_? But how?" she shook her head. "Never mind, I know how. I might have guessed. At least they're not to pretending to be heroes like their brother," she spat.

Chekov rubbed his chin on his shoulder nervously. "As I vas saying, Doktor, zhey vere seenging eet een zhe lounge. Amanda has zhe most _buteful_ seenging voice," he sighed dreamily. "Just like her mama..."

Bones instinctively turned his head to look at Uhura, who had smiled and blushed. But a familiar mask of worry crept on her face again.

"…And her older brother," Sulu added.

"What?" Bones blinked, puzzled. "Ado has a horrible singing voice, if he even has one at all!"

"Adonis is younger than Amanda by two minutes," Uhura interjected.

Sulu nodded. "I was talking about Bryce."

"Really? I didn't know he sang…"

"Da, he does, Doktor."

"When he's with his siblings, or when he thinks he's alone." Sulu shrugged. "He's pretty good, actually."

"Right," Bones remembered. "Amanda said he always gets the microphone…" he shook his head as he realized that Uhura would probably burst into tears if her eldest son was discussed further. "I'll go check on zhem…I mean them…Dammit!"

* * *

Bones traipsed down the hall to the lounge. A jumpy, frantic teenager raced by, holding a white foam cup.

"Jeremy!" Bones cried. "Where are you going?"

"Brendan's room!" Jeremy Spindler called back, turning around. "He hasn't slept since the _Leviathan_ took off! He needs coffee, stat!"

"You're as jumpy as a colt its first day on the track! Did you drink any of it?" Bones bellowed.

"Maybe a few sips!"

Bones slapped his palm to his forehead. "But you _know_ what caffeine does to you!" he shouted after Jeremy, but he had disappeared down the hall.

Music floated out of the lounge: "You are the reason that I breathe…you are the reason that I still believe…you are my destiny…Jai Ho!"

The doctor slipped into the lounge and glanced at Adonis, on drums, and Amanda, clutching the microphone. "You two are still playing that? Do you even take naps?"

Amanda turned to Doctor McCoy, and nodded. Ado said nothing; he scrolled down the list, in search of another song to play.

"Seriously," an exasperated doctor cried. "Why are you so obsessed with playing Rock Band so much?"

"It reminds us of good times and happy memories we've had with our brother," Amanda piped up meekly.

"And we have nothing better to do," Ado added bitterly, selecting Renegade by Styx. "This is an old one…" he muttered. "But a good one too."

"Dad used to watch us…" Amanda sighed. "He thought it was so illogical."

"Naturally," Bones laughed nervously.

"But we told him it was fun, and not all fun was logical. H…he never left while we were playing…" Tears welled up in Amanda's eyes, and her brother instantly whipped his head to the side. He got up from his drum set and wrapped his arms around his twin sister.

"Chill out, Amanda. They're coming back," he soothed. "Come on. Let's switch games, okay?"

Bones furrowed his brow in disbelief. "That…that was all it took?"

Adonis shot an annoyed glance at Bones. "You're kidding, right? We're switching to _Show Tunes_ Rock Band. Where have _you_ been?"

Bones dug his fingernails into his forehead. "Oh no…" he grimaced. "Not again, you two!"

Suddenly, shouts and heavy footsteps echoed from the hallway. "Doctor McCoy! Doctor McCoy! Oh, bloody hell! Doctor!" Brendan Jones sped into the lounge, eyes alight with panic; Jeremy Spindler was hot on his heels. "We need to get up to the bridge and turn this ship around, mate! It's the _Leviathan_, sir! She needs us!"

* * *

Lyric grinned as she heard Brendan's panicked yelp and his footsteps fade as he raced away to turn the _Enterprise_ in the right direction. She had a feeling something bad would happen if the _Leviathan_ and her crew were alone much longer…

Beeps from the monitor above the biobed shook her out of her thoughts. Spock had begun twitching and shaking. His forehead was covered in sweat, dripping into his eyes from his pin-straight black hair.

Ly straightened her back and whisked away to murmur soothingly to the ailing Vulcan as she injected him with a sedative. As Spock's contortions eased, Lyric injected him again with a few of the poison remedies her father had supplied for her. Hopefully, she had bought him more time in the galaxy…

Another noise made her turn around. Kirk had groaned and sat up in bed.

"Ah, Jim," Lyric smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Kirk stared at her in disbelief. "_Enterprise_…" he muttered.

"No, Jim, _Leviathan_. We're just waiting for Maddie to save Bryce's ass from those Gilligan bastards," Ly gently explained.

Kirk shook his head violently. "E…expecting a call…we…" he grunted, swinging his legs over the side of the biobed. "Have to go back…need…to turn this…damn ship around…"

"Oh no you don't!" Ly yelped, leaping towards him. "Are you crazy?"

"Need…to take that call…" Kirk shook his head again. "She's…answering…me…" He staggered onto the bridge, nearly frightening Claire out of her wits.

"J-Jim!" she cried. "You're supposed to be in medical!" Claire glanced at her female companion. "What's he doing?"

"I have no idea," Lyric grumbled.

Kirk pushed Claire out of the engineering chair and started hitting controls. He looked at the still pitch black monitors. "I've…got to get…out of here…" He grimaced and clutched his back. There was a hole where the spearhead had pierced him, and the shirt that Lyric had supplied was dyed an ugly red.

Exasperated, Lyric swiped a vaccine off the shelf and pressed it into Jim's neck. "I'm getting tired of repeating this!" she growled. "_Never_ mess with me when I have access to sedatives!"

* * *

_Tap._

_Tap, tap._

"_Hello?"_

_Tap, tap, tap._

"_Hey, did they end up killing him after all?"_

"_Nah, he's still breathing."_

"_Hey, Vulcan! Wake up!"_

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

"_Hmm…we'll check up later. He needs to be conscious."_

The steel door slammed loudly, jerking the Vulcan out of his trance-like slumber.

* * *

Gasping, Bryce's eyelids snapped open, and his panicked brown eyes darted around. A sharp pain wracked his chest, and his head throbbed. The fact that the pain was even registering meant he was still alive; for better or worse.

_Where am I?_

A Gilligan, who had been sitting in the corner, staring at him, spoke up. "Glad to see you're awake, Vulcan."

It took all of Bryce's self control not to jump in surprise. Instead, he turned slowly, so not to agitate his chest. "Who are you?" he asked, trying not to let his voice shake.

"My name is not important," the Gilligan replied. It sounded female, and young as well. "What _is_ important is, are you healed enough to walk?"

"Healed?" Bryce was perplexed. "Why did you heal me?" Now that he thought about it, the pain in his chest was not nearly as intense as before.

"You need to be well enough to walk to your execution." Blunt…she had to be young.

"Right…" Bryce dropped his gaze a little. "I suppose I must thank you, then, for healing me."

The Gilligan's eyes softened, and Bryce winced internally; had he let some emotion show through?

"You…you're welcome, Vulcan. I…I am so sorry that this has to happen."

"Explain…" Bryce raised an eyebrow. "Why are you…sorry?"

"Because…you seem…like a normal being. I'd…like to think we could have been…friends…"

Bryce looked away. "Let me be." He didn't want to deal with this now. "Please."

The door slid open again, and another Gilligan stepped inside. "Ah, good. It's awake." He grasped Bryce by the upper arm and dragged him out through the open archway.

"Good luck…" the female whispered sadly.

* * *

Bryce was yanked through the halls of the Gilligan ship. Soon, a scent reached his nose…it smelled like fresh air… He raised an eyebrow quizzically, but then remembered. The ship had landed on its home planet long ago.

Bryce's stomach flipped inside. This was really happening. He was really going to die. He shut his eyes and just allowed himself to be hauled off.

Rays of light danced over Bryce's eyelids and warmed his face. His arms, and the rest of him, were moving at a slower pace. The native Gilligan tongue sounded through speakers, and cheers and shouts echoed through Bryce's ears.

He dared to open his eyelids, and instantly had to squint them close to shut again. The star that cast its glow on the planet Gilligan streamed down to its surface. The light's glare nearly blinded Bryce. His eyes adjusted to the harsh gleam, and his heart nearly stopped.

There were crowds; hundreds upon hundreds of Gilligans…and, if Bryce looked further, there were foreigners too.

In the first few rows of scaly, green-skinned spectators, Bryce picked out skin that was actually lighter. Brown hair, cascading down, prettily framing a face sporting a few tattoos. Dark, slanted eyebrows hung above bright blue eyes, frozen in a glare as they took in the Gilligans' prisoner. Red lips were set in a frown, a glare.

Bryce stared back, trying not to express any fear as he took in the Romulan among all of the Gilligan onlookers.

As the Gilligan escorting him to the platform shoved him forward, Bryce nearly stumbled.

_Wake up,_ he urged himself, desperately trying to believe that this was all a dream. _Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!_

Jiando stepped forward to the population. "Ladies, gentlemen, Gilligans…_others_…We come here to execute a fugitive. He was caught freeing other prisoners aboard our ship. Sadly, the other two escaped," Boos resounded from the crowd. "But we have this Vulcan to beat and bludgeon to death. First, before we get truly started, a few of our lucky crew members have the chance to throw stones at this young Vulcan." Jiando grinned evilly. "Shall we get started?"

The crowd cheered and jeered at the young Vulcan, about to lose his life.

Bryce stared around at the crowd. _I didn't want to go this way…_ Humiliated. Hated.

_This sucks._

As the Gilligans raised their arms to pelt stones at him, an image of the blue-eyed Romulan girl snuck into his head and refused to leave. He couldn't believe, that so far away in the galaxy, he was hated. The Vulcan race seemed to be despised everywhere.

The first stone was thrown, and he closed his eyes, but couldn't lose the blue-eyed Romulan, and her glare and scowl were fresh in his mind.

* * *

The stones clattered out of the Gilligans' hands and collided with Bryce's skin. One or two hit his burn injury, causing him to flinch. A few barreled into his head, which had already been throbbing. Three hit his feet, sending him sprawling to the floor. Five or so hit his stomach, six hit his back.

It wasn't fair.

He hadn't gotten to have a trial, or plead his case, or anything, like on those lawyer shows his mother always liked to watch. Bryce sighed inside and started to hum to himself.

_The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found me. The renegade who had it made, retrieved for a bounty. _

Bryce grit his teeth to keep from crying out as a sharp stone nailed him near the eye; he felt something drip down his cheek and fall to the floor. A quick look at the sticky substance on the ground told him it was blood.

Now that he thought about it, the stones were growing sharper and sharper, as if the air they were pelted through ground them finely to a point. He felt the sticky blood tracing its way down his arm from a stone wound to the shoulder. More oozed from other abrasions, but Bryce couldn't place them.

This was it; he was truly going to die here, now. It was really happening.

_Never more to go astray, the judge'll have revenge today…_

The stones ceased flying at him and he breathed in some relief.

…_On the wanted man…_

Bryce clenched his teeth and breathed heavily, trying to focus before he lost breath or consciousness again.

An angry cry and a heavy step broke him from his thoughts.

"Hey!" the shout rang out, but remained unanswered.

"Oi! You prats! What are you doing to _my_ Vulcan?"

* * *

**Sorry for such a late update! Much apologies to Mairead924, for delaying so much. "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." Life seems to have gotten in the way of this. Apologies to all~!**

Love, HBWK (The BookWurm)


	25. Escape

Bryce raised his head slowly to look upon the newcomer on the platform. His mouth opened slightly in astonishment. _The hell?_

The blue-eyed Romulan girl stood there, still glaring, but not at the Vulcan prisoner. She glared at the inflictor of torture. And boy, did she look pissed.

"What the hell are you doing? This is _my_ Vulcan, jackasses," she snarled, poking Jiando in the chest. "And any hell that needs to be let loose on this S-O-B should god-damned well be done by _me_." She looked to Bryce. "Silenus, I told you to bloody _not run away_, dammit! Have you forgotten all I've done for you?" she growled at him angrily.

Bryce's heart skipped a beat in anxiety. Could it have been a one-in-a-million coincidence; that there was another Vulcan in this galaxy named Silenus, who lived up to Bryce's made-up past? "I-I…" he stuttered slightly. He didn't know what to say.

"You _what_? You _what,_ you green-blooded, neck pinching, pointy eared, son of a bitch?" The Romulan bared her teeth at him.

"Hold the phone," Jiando broke between them. "Who the hell are you?"

"Verelan," she spat.

Jiando nodded in acknowledgement, only to continue his tirade. "This is _our_ prisoner. He's told us about his past. He's nineteen," he counted on his fingers. "Born on Vulcan, but was on Earth when his home planet imploded, made his way to Spock two months ago, who directed them to the new Vulcan colony. He then came here when he learned Spock was captured by yours truly." Jiando crossed his arms. "Beat that."

"Hate to put holes in your lovely story, bud," Verelan grinned. "But he was _my_ prisoner _first_. There was a little tiny plot gap there. His parents' research didn't end two _months_ ago. It ended two _years_ ago."

Uh-oh.

"So, his parents' shuttlecraft skirted the edge of the Romulan Neutral Zone, and they were, of course, captured. His parents were old farts, so they were swiftly…eliminated. But this one," Verelan stroked Bryce's black hair, digging her sharp, long nails into his scalp. "This one we could use for labor. My father had him picking crops on our land. He put me in charge of our little slave. He ran away a few days ago, and I tracked him here. Silenus, you naughty Vulcan, you," she shook Bryce's head from side to side. "You're not supposed to _leave _once you're captured!" she turned back to the Gilligan commander. "He's _mine_."

Jiando's beak dropped in disbelief. "B-but I wanted to kill him!" he wailed, stomping his foot. "That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair, you scaly green reptile," Verelan shrugged. "Now, if I may, I'd like to take him back to where he belongs. At the wheel, and this time, the whipping will be more intense, more backbreaking," her eyes glinted. "Is that alright with you, lord of the Gilligans? Why end his life now, when this little bastard can have an eternity of torturous, strenuous activity?" Verelan blinked her blue eyes innocently.

Jiando's eyes narrowed angrily. "I suppose…since he's rightfully yours. Can I ask a small request, though?"

"Shoot."

"We have one stone left that should be thrown. May I?" Jiando held up the stone, raising his eyebrows.

"Why not?" Verelan grinned. She sidestepped, allowing Bryce to fall, kneeling, to the floor again. He snapped his head up, and the sun glared into his eyes again. Then, a sight made the blood leave his stomach; the fight or flight response.

Jiando was silhouetted against the blinding light. He held the jagged stone up against the sky. "It's too bad, Vulcan. I had a lot of fun sparring with you." He sighed. "So I am going to have fun with this."

Bryce's heart raced. He couldn't say a word, in case he blew his cover. Instead, He blinked fast and prayed that Maddie and Ly had gotten away, far away from here. He hoped that his father was staying strong, that his mother wouldn't have a _total_ breakdown when he didn't come home.

His panicked thoughts were cut short by a whirlwind of pain shooting through his cranial nerves. Jiando had driven the stone into the left side of his head.

He felt the blood ooze down his head, and he felt dizzy. He blinked hard to get the stars that were floating around out of his eyes. _…that hurt…_

"Are we quite finished here?" Verelan sounded bored. "I've been avoiding Father since this little bastard disappeared." She tapped her foot on the wooden platform.

"Ah, yes." Jiando sounded disappointed. "May I quickly step on his foot? Or his hand? Please?"

Verelan sighed. "Of course. You _are_ our host, after all."

Bryce tried to lift his head to see where the Gilligan was going to step. As he saw the alien standing over him, he cursed internally. The act of bringing his head up brought him to his hands and knees. This kept his feet out of harm, but his hands…

Bryce spread his fingers as far out as he could as the Gilligan foot came down on his hand. He fought the urge to yelp in pain as he felt the bones in two of his fingers splinter and crack.

"Ooooh-kay," Verelan muttered. "I think he has had enough. He still needs to do manual labor for me, remember?"

"Right. Sorry." Jiando looked as sheepish as possible, for a reptile. "You may go. Pardon me for trying to have a little fun…" he added in a sarcastic undertone.

Verelan raised her eyebrows as she took Bryce by the arms. "I have a rendezvous point inside your ship. We will go there, and leave."

"Would you like an escort?"

"I'll be fine. I need to talk to my Vulcan in private." It made Bryce uneasy…the way Verelan glared at him, like he were some piece of gum on the bottom of her shoe.

He gulped inaudibly as the Romulan dragged him away. As much as he feared for what awaited him, he was sure glad to be away from that goddamned Gilligan.

The door to the ship slammed shut behind them, and Verelan dragged Bryce through the ship. She ducked into a room where there were no Gilligan patrollers with him, closed the door, released his arms, and stepped back. Then, she just…stared at him. It was a creepy stare, one that could bore holes through anything. Bryce started to hyperventilate; what was she going to do to him now? He guessed that it was the time for coming clean.

"L-look," Bryce stammered, feeling blood from his mouth drip down the side of his chin. As he moved his hands while he talked, his broken fingers gave a painful twang. "Thanks for getting me out of there and all, but… but…" he shook his head. "You've got the wrong guy. I'm not a Vulcan, uh, ma'am."

"I know."

From the way Verelan crossed her arms, Bryce guessed that the Romulan didn't believe him.

"Really! I'm not! I'm only a _quarter_ Vulcan. I-I have emotions! I'm not that Silenus guy you were looking for; that was just the first name that popped into my head as an alias so they wouldn't kill me on the spot…" Bryce found himself rambling on in panic, waving his hands around and feeling the pain in his fingers. Of course, the black hair and slanted eyebrows didn't help his argument against being Vulcan, nor did his pointed ears. "I-I didn't want to go yet, but there was little I could do to prevent it, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be not-Vulcan, but I just am. I can't help where I'm from. I just…um, could you just get me back to my ship or back home? I'm sorry for this misunderstanding…I'm grateful to you for saving my skin, but I-"

"Keep it down, Bryce!" Verelan hissed, giving herself a facepalm. "Do you want to _actually_ die?"

Bryce froze in the midst of his babbling tirade. _How did she…?_ "How did you…?"

Verelan smiled. "Take your best guess, Ginger."

Bryce could not put his emotions into words. "But…you…I…" he shook his head. "I told you to get out of here!" he cried.

She sighed. "You know me well; well enough to know, considering _I have already told you_, that we are not leaving without you."

"At what risk? You want Jim and Spock to die?"

"No, but I don't want _you_ to die either. The needs of the _one_ sometimes outweigh the needs of the _many_, dumbass."

Bryce pinched the bridge of his nose with his non-broken fingers, but pulled back. Fresh green blood dripped down out of his nose. "Ah, nosebleed," he grimaced. "Well, now that we're in this together, let's get out of it together."

Maddie grinned. "You've got it."

"Just one thing…Can I have my hair and eyebrows back please?"

She laughed. "Sure, buddy. I'm tired of these tattoos myself." She withdrew her shapeshifter and aimed it at herself, then Bryce. She rotated her shoulders, stretching. "Man, does it feel good to be normal again!" She giggled, digging through her bag to get out a splint and bandages.

"Y-yeah," Bryce agreed, wincing as he dragged his fingers through his hair. "Still in pain, but yeah. Good to be me again." His fingers were grabbed, and he let out a groan of pain through clenched teeth. "Ow!" He yanked back his hand. "I'm in enough pain already! Quit it!"

"Oh, don't be a baby!"

"You could be a bit more gentle!"

"I'm trying to help you, dumbass!"

"Stop hurting me! Ow!"

"Quit your whining!" Bryce was knocked to the floor, aggravating his wounds. "Haha, gotcha!" Maddie yelped victoriously. "Now hold still."

Bryce grumbled under his breath as his friend splinted and bound his fingers and wrapped his wounds in bandages. From her pocket, she drew something wrapped in paper, and swore.

"What?"

"We've only got _one_ band-aid!"

Bryce rolled his eyes as Maddie put the lone band-aid on the side of his head. He gingerly patted the throbbing wound and winced. "It'll have to do until we get to medical," he grimaced as he was helped up.

"Shall we get out of here?" Maddie smiled, cocking her arm into a right angle.

In spite of the situation, Bryce laughed. "Indubitably," he answered, painfully, yet good-humorously, snaking his arm through hers. "However, if they catch us, walking like this surely won't get us anywhere."

"Right…" Maddie admitted, unraveling her arm from his. "Let's just get going," she whispered, heading out the door.

* * *

Lyric stroked her chin as she gazed curiously at the unconscious Kirk. "What did he mean, he had to make a call? What's all this about a question?" she murmured aloud.

Crunch. Crunch.

Ly's brow furrowed and her eyes twitched back and forth. "What the…?" She turned around to see Claire…munching on a granola bar.

"Claire?"

Claire ducked her head sheepishly. "I-I got hungry…"

Suddenly, an idea dawned on Lyric. "Give me the granola bar."

"What? No way! Mine!"

Lyric crossed her arms. "I have medicines here that could be lethal. I suggest you hand it over."

That scared Claire. She stood up, walked over to medical, and dropped the bar in Lyric's hand. Ly saw her neck muscle bulge and shake, and her teeth clench.

"You know, it's funny."

"What is?"

"Under normal circumstances, you would've refused with the line, 'No fucking way, get your own, loser.'" Ly raised her eyebrows quickly.

Claire narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Watch your back, doc. Because when we get back…your head is _so_ going in a toilet."

"Why don't _you_ watch _your_ back, hmm? Because when the other 'loser' gets back, your ass'll be floating out in space. You'll be _so_ suffocating…but you'd die anyway, from lack of makeup." Lyric slapped her hands to her face in mock distress. "Oh no! What'll I ever do every few hours without a new coating of lip gloss, and, SHIT! Is that a pimple? Where's my concealer, my coverup? MOTHER FUCK! I need more mascara! My real face is showing through! Aaaaah!" she wailed.

"That's it, you asked for it!" Claire leaped at Lyric, who hastily shoved the granola bar into her pocket. "Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, messes with my makeup!" She dug her plastic press-on nails into Ly's shoulders, most likely drawing blood.

"And this is my _good_ uniform! You poked holes in my _good_ uniform!" The gloves were off, and Lyric fought back.

Claire cackled and she extended her arm, resting her hand on her opponent's head, pushing Ly backwards and keeping her at a safe distance. "Face it, you're too short!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah really! What'cha gonna do, step on my toes 'till I cry?"

"Don't tempt me!"

Claire laughed again. Lyric's eyes blazed as she lashed out and grabbed hold of Claire's wrist. The latter's eyes widened as the young doctor twisted her arm behind her back.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! You bee-yotch!"

"Who actually talks like that?"

As the pair rolled around, Kirk stirred from where he slept. "Mrh?" he murmured, taking in the catfight that was taking place around him. He blinked and came to his senses. Tiptoeing around the brawling, screeching girls, Jim's fingers flew around on the keypad, and he stared on as flecks of light swirled around him.

He then disappeared.

* * *

Maddie peeked around the corner of the hallway. "Okay, coast is clear!" she signaled to her companion. "Let's go."

She held her phaser to her shoulder, pointed up, finger on the trigger. Bryce was close behind her. "You don't need to hold it like that," he hissed.

"They do it in the movies!" Maddie whispered back. He would never understand how what she saw in the movies often helped get through situations. Just like before, he should _not_ have said, 'it's quiet; too quiet.' That line generally got people killed.

She saw him roll his eyes at her again. _Dammit, I may not be a doctor, but I was just trying to help!_ "Come on, you wuss!"

The pair crept through the hallway. All went well until they heard footsteps tramping from both directions.

Madison whipped her head from side to side, and spotted a door. "This way, through here!" She pushed Bryce into the door, forcing it to open, and followed him through. As she slammed it shut, she heard Bryce hiss.

"Dammit, Maddie! Still in pain!"

She didn't answer, as she was staring around at the room they ended up in. "Whoa. This ship is bigger than I thought."

She let her gaze wander around. Her eyes widened as she took in her surroundings; steel walls curved upward around her. She stood facing a suspended platform connected to one wall by a thin bridge. The platform was covered in a light brown texture. Giant poles stood at intervals all around, but there was plenty of room to fall off.

Maddie, being her naturally curious self, crossed the bridge. "Maddie…" Bryce warned. "Be careful…"

"Am I ever?"

"No."

"Then there's my answer." She stepped off the bridge and onto the platform, feeling the sand and dirt crunch under her feet. An exasperated sigh told her Bryce was right behind her, and she grinned. "Now, what does this seem like to you?"

"To me?" Bryce asked, limping out further onto the platform. "An arena of sorts," he thought aloud, staring around.

"You're exactly right," a reptilian voice sounded from behind them. Maddie whirled around to see Jiando, standing relaxedly, behind them. His arms were crossed, and he wore an amused expression on his deplorable face.

Maddie felt Bryce tense beside her, and she grasped his arm.

"Guards!" the Gilligan leader squawked. "Guards!"

The two teenagers were instantly swarmed with armed aliens. Maddie glanced around, and had an idea. "The bridge!" she hissed to her companion, who nodded and followed after her.

A Gilligan troop jumped in her path and swatted her face with his claws, breaking skin and leaving marks.

_Okay, that's it!_ Maddie pressed her ring finger to her thumb and sucker-punched the Gilligan in the beak. Out cold, he dropped to the ground.

"One down," Madison huffed. "About...forty-nine to go."

Whirling around, she caught sight of Bryce, engaged in a fistfight with a Gilligan. As he fought with one, another came up behind him, brandishing a club. Maddie whipped out her phaser and shot the would-be clubber in the chest. He fell backwards; dead. "Forty-eight…"

Bryce didn't notice her handiwork and kept pummeling the Gilligan in front of him. The enemy dealt a blow to his nose, and he stumbled backwards. Shooting out his scaly leg, he knocked the boy's feet out from under him, and he plummeted to the floor. He started to rise, but to no avail.

Panicked, Maddie dashed forward. _I think now is a good time to demonstrate my boots…_ "Back! Back, dammit!" she cried. "I'm warning you; I have weapons of mass destruction on my person!"

The Gilligan guards laughed. "What're you going to do, _cute_ us to death? _Adorablize_ us until our eyes pop out of their sockets?"

Eyes narrowing, Maddie hit her right heel to her left, and drew a moderately-long line in the dirt in front of her. "I _dare_ you to step across this line."

Bryce, bleeding from his nose, probably broken, stared up at her and grimaced. "R-Really?" he coughed disbelievingly. "Are…you kidding me?" Maddie shushed him.

The guards, more or less, were flabbergasted. Here was a girl, outnumbered by far, expecting them to listen to her and take a dare. How old was she, seven?

"Go on, you slimy aliens. Or are you just…chicken?" Maddie widened her eyes and started clucking. She flapped her arms teasingly. "Buck, buck, buck, buckaaaah!"

Bryce rolled his eyes at her. "How mature…" he muttered sarcastically.

The Gilligans clenched their beaks. "Alright, that's it! You asked for it!" Shouting war cries, the front line raced across the line in the dirt Maddie had drawn with her boot.

"Maddie…" Bryce's voice wavered as he struggled to stand and try to run.

Madison raised her eyebrow at her companion as the front line were incinerated by a wall of red beams.

"Go on," she encouraged him, waving her arm dramatically at the dumbstruck Gilligans who just watched maybe fifteen of their finest get incinerated like they were worthless.

Bryce's jaw had all but fell to the floor. "Y-y-you just…Maddie!" he cried. "So _that's_ what they do! How?"

Lifting her heel, she showed her friend a hole in it. "Little metal balls come out of here. Weights on the bottom cause them to face up. Motion sensing beams. Fun stuff. If I do this," she kicked her heel again. "They're deactivated. Oops…" her eyes widened, realizing her mistake. "Shouldn't have done that…" she gave herself a facepalm. "That was dumb."

Drawing their phasers, Maddie and Bryce started shooting into the horde of Gilligans that were charging at them. Bryce seemed content to stay where he was, but Madison had other ideas. She charged straight into the mass, firing her phaser as she went, knocking down Gilligan after Gilligan.

In the heat of the battle, she could hear nothing but the sounds of war cries and her own breathing. But something drew her attention away from the reptiles falling around her.

A piercing scream.

* * *

**Oh my god you guys! Sorry it took so long for an update! ^^; Life keeps getting in the way, you know? Well, the play's almost over, so I should have more time on my hands when that's done. Maybe I'll start 26 today, or Monday. I'm not sure. I don't know when I'll update next, considering life has surprises and not-so-much-surprises-instead-I-should've-seen-it-coming, but I'll try for soon. No promises. -H-BWK  
**


	26. Fall

Adonis sighed and allowed his eyes to droop from lack of sleep as he bent over the drum set. He tapped the sticks on the pads half-heartedly as his foot pointed and flexed slowly.

He wasn't even sure of what song he was playing. All that Spock's youngest child could think about was trying not to fall asleep. If he fell asleep, he'd start to see familiar faces. If he started to see familiar faces, he'd start to think about their owners. If he started thinking, the next place he was headed was worrying and sobbing as he imagined them never coming home.

So Ado played the drums.

His sister Amanda had had the sense to take a nap, and, in fact, was still out cold. The song ended, and Ado rested his head on the drums, scrolled absently down the list and picked any random one. Sleep was not far from his eyelids, so before he pressed 'play,' he stood up.

His rear end was sore from the countless hours of distraction, so he stretched as he walked over to a corner. Crew members playing 3-D chess stopped to stare at the young boy ambling over to a tub in the corner of the room.

He had prepared this just in case he got to be at this point. Taking a deep breath, Ado gripped the edges of the tub and dunked his head into the ice water.

He waited a minute before his head emerged in a fit of shivers. "T-that h-h-h-helps…" he blinked and shook his black hair, spraying drops all over the lounge.

"A-Adonis?" a meek voice whispered. "You don't look so good. Maybe you should get some sleep…" Charlie, who came in and out when she was off-shift as an engineering apprentice, put her hand on her friend's damp shoulder.

He turned to her and grinned. "Nah, I'm fine, Charlie. I'm just going to get back to that song, 'kay?"

Charlie frowned, and was about to protest, but Adonis plopped down at his drum set and pressed start. The minute he saw the title of the song, he froze up. The music started, and he dropped his drumsticks.

"Oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long/ Just tryin' to find my way back home/But the old me's dead and gone/ Dead and gone./ And oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long/ Just tryin' to find my way back home/ But the old me's dead and gone/ Dead and gone, dead and -"

Charlie unplugged Rock Band. "Ado…" Her friend had fallen forward onto his drum set. His head was buried in his arms and sobs wracked his body. Adonis Uhura, everyone knew, could be very emotional at times. He was good at hiding them, don't get him wrong, but if something really, really distressed him, he let it out, not even trying to hold it in.

"Adonis…" she sat beside him, rubbing his back comfortingly. "This is about your father? And your brother?"

Ado sniffed and turned sad brown eyes to look at her. "I-I'm outnumbered," he whispered.

"What?"

"I'm outnumbered. It used to be me and Bryce ganging up on Amanda. Now, she's got me outnumbered one to one."

"That makes absolutely _no_ logical sense."

"Does it have to? She's mom and dad's only daughter. Bryce is the oldest, and their favorite son. Amanda gets that 'girl stuff' with mom that I can't decode. Bryce doesn't care about that crap. If they don't come back…" his voice trailed off. "If they don't come back, what does that make me? Mom'll have her perfect little girl, but she'll still mourn her eldest, most handsome, most responsible son. She won't get it that she has another one right in front of her eyes."

Charlie blinked. "Wow…" she blinked. "That's…that's huge."

"That's what she said," hiccuped Ado, holding back laughs. That earned him a thump to the head.

"You're a pervert, you know that?" she giggled. "But… you do want them to succeed, right?"

Ado nodded, glaring at the black television. "Of course I do. If Bryce doesn't come back…" he vowed.

"I'll kill him."

Maddie whipped her head around. A Gilligan held up her speckle-haired friend by the neck over by the edge of the platform. The floor below, she had guessed before, was after good two-hundred foot drop, at least. That scaly beast was _not_ going to drop him, or there'd be hell to pay.

"Oi!" she cried. "Put him down!" She drew her phaser and shot the Gilligan.

The enemy dropped Bryce and fell over the side. Bryce coughed and struggled to rise. The wounds didn't help.

The Gilligans abandoned the one who could fight back and swarmed to the weaker one who would be easier to kill.

Madison gaped at the thick mass of Gilligans surrounding her friend. She stared around at the arena. Thinking quickly, she raced over to a wide pole, estimating the dimensions as she went. "Eight feet in diameter, possibly fourteen feet high, it should land…there!" she picked the right one and pressed her hands to it, pushing her pinky finger to her thumb.

Electric charges pulsed through her hand, spreading through the metal. Hisses rang out through the arena and alarms flared. The arena caught fire, and the Gilligans fled for the bridge.

Maddie reached for her bag to hold as she ran for her friend. _Wait, my bag!_ Her messenger bag laid on the side of the arena closer to the bridge. Bryce, on the other, had risen to his feet. "Maddie!" he called.

The arena shook violently, and Bryce cried out as he was pitched over the side. "Maddie!"

"No! Bryce!" Maddie cried. "No!" _I shouldn't have left him to fall._ Feeling utterly guilty, Maddie lowered her head as the flames burned around her. A shrill cry brought her back to her senses.

"Help! I'm slipping!" Looking carefully, Maddie could see Bryce's fingers scrabbling at the edge of the platform, while his hair bobbed up and down over the side. Yelping in pain, he called for help again.

The only advice Maddie could give him was, "Don't let go!"

"Why on EARTH would I let go?"

"And don't look down!"

Bryce paused, and shrieked again. "Maddie! I'm looking down!"

"I told you not to! Whoa!" an explosion sounded from behind her. She glanced at her bag, lying helplessly on the other side. "Try to pull yourself up over the side!"

"I'm afraid of heights!" he whimpered. "Help me! I can't hold on! I don't want to fall!"

"Give me a second," Maddie pleaded. She turned for her bag. A horrible cracking noise came from beside her.

The pole she had sent charges into was starting to fall, catching fire as it went, right towards the captain's daughter. Referring quickly back to her estimates of its dimensions, Maddie knew she had to pick a side to flee to.

On the one side, her bag and all of her gadgets that would help them escape, and the bridge.

On the other…her childhood friend who she had gone through everything with.

Jim struggled to get his balance as he landed from the beaming. Staring around, he remembered why he was there in the first place.

Slinking through the corridors, he saw a piece of fabric strewn on the ground. A shard of a black shirt; apparently torn from it, and green blood was dried on the edges.

"Well, I guess I'm close…" Kirk muttered. He heard footsteps, and ran as fast as his wounded body would allow down the stairs.

He kept running down and down and down until he came to a door. A note was taped to it, written in sloppy handwriting; "Dear Custodians; Could you try _not_ to leave a trail of blood next time you come to clean up the bodies? People slip and it gets messy. Thanks! Luv, Jiando." The 'i' was dotted with a heart.

Kirk was confused. "I lost a fight…to a guy who dots his 'i's with hearts?" he shook his head, and pushed through the door.

Walls rose up on a round curve from the circular floor. The door was the only thing with defined edges. Looking up, Kirk saw a tiny platform at least two hundred feet above him. He whistled as he imagined someone falling off that thing; no one would survive.

He heard a creaking and turned around. "No! No! No!" he cried, dashing to the closing door, reaching it right after it had slammed shut. He pulled on it, and it wouldn't budge.

Kirk sighed and sat against the curved wall, banging his head on it. Across the floor, a Gilligan appeared to be sleeping.

"Hey, pal. What're you in for?" Kirk asked. The Gilligan didn't reply, so Kirk looked closer at him, and saw a phaser wound in his head and blood hardened on lacerations on his body. Limbs were splayed at awkward angles; the Gilligan was dead.

Screams echoed out from above him, and another Gilligan crashed down on top of this one. Kirk cried out in panic and backed up. Looking above him again, he saw flames erupting, and a pole came out of nowhere, adding a new piece to the ant's-eye view of the platform.

"_Captain! What the hell are you doing? Get back here!"_ Lyric cried into his ear; she had put an extra chip in his ear, just in case. _"Lanade, if you're quite finished bleeding, then please key in Kirk's coordinates and get him up here!"_

Kirk stood still as light beams swirled around him.

He didn't notice when a strap landed around his neck, and its bulk fell to his side.

A deer in headlights, Maddie stood still as the column fell towards her. A voice brought her back to her senses.

"Maddie!" Bryce cried again, his sweaty palms struggling and his legs kicking out helplessly.

Madison Kirk dove to her right. The column crashed to the floor right behind her. Glancing backwards as the column bounced, she saw her messenger bag drop over the edge with grief. _They're just gadgets_, she consoled herself. _They're material. They can be replaced. You saved a living being. Don't worry about bits of scrap metal._

"I've got you!" She grasped Bryce's hands in hers, not even thinking about his broken fingers. Bryce yelped when they were grabbed. "Oh, man up!"

His terrified brown eyes bored holes into her. "D-don't let me fall," he whimpered.

"I promise I won't."

A foot crashed down beside them. "How sweet."

The towering silhouette of Jiando rose up behind Maddie, and his strong claws yanked her backwards. Bryce scrambled for a grip on the edge again.

"Hold on, mac. You're at my mercy. I can choose to drop you or not."

"Let me pull him up," Maddie pleaded.

"No," Jiando whispered, aiming a phaser at Bryce's head. "Any sudden moves, and your boyfriend here dies."

_He's not my boyfriend, dumbass. _"He's of no use to you dead!"

"I don't care."

"Dammit, why not?"

"Because you wish it."

Maddie, hyperventilating, said the first thing she could think of. "Why do you think you're like this?"

Jiando paused. "Why…do I _think_ I'm like this?" His eyes looked elsewhere, lost and mystified. "Well, it all started when I was born."

"Here we go," Bryce muttered, managing to roll his eyes.

"My mother wanted a daughter, so very very much. So, when I was a young lad-"

"Lad?" Maddie chuckled grimly.

"-she dressed me in female attire. I have the pictures to prove it."

_Why would you _KEEP _them?_ Maddie wondered.

"And then my father. He loved me the way I was, a male. But I was to feminine for his liking. So he signed me up for boot camp. Despite the fact that I was the only one wearing a dress, those years were the best of my life.

"And then, I found my true love; Gladys. She had more male hormones than I think I had, or will ever have. My parents disapproved. My mother, who called me Linda, wanted me to marry a male. Last I checked, I was a male. I am not monosexual. My father disapproved because of the masculinity, and didn't _want_ me to be monosexual.

"So they killed her."

Maddie and Bryce's jaws dropped in unison as they struggled not to crack up.

Jiando glared at them. "I'm trying to tell my life story! Don't make that face! Besides, it is perfectly normal!

"Continuing on, my father eventually took ill. On his deathbed, he called out to me, his youngest son/daughter. He told me that he had never, ever, EVER been proud of me, and that I was a disgrace to the family and all I grew to love. My brothers all laughed, but one. He felt bad for me. They killed him too.

"I cried. For the loss of my brother, and the loss of my dignity."

_Like he ever had any…_

"I went on through school with a heavy heart, bitter with resentment from my father's words. I decided that diplomacy and my previous passiveness was not the answer. Violence was the only way to get through life without being teased or mocked or ridiculed…or murdered. The other young Gilligans- They called me female names. A male even tried to kiss me once; whether out of ridicule or seriousness I will never know.

"After graduation, I realized no one from my family had shown up. It filled me with such a rage that I dashed home and threw my mother out the nineteenth story window with the words, 'This is your fault! This is your fault that I'm like this!'"

The two children on the edge were suddenly quite afraid of Jiando's quivering finger hovering over the trigger of his phaser.

"I killed my brothers too. They had laughed at me."

Now they were definitely terrified.

"I gathered up a band of followers in jail…"

"Wait, when'd you go to jail? And _why_?" Maddie asked. Fire burned around them, and the teenagers were totally aware of it, but Jiando kept going on and on and on.

"For killing my mother, duh.

"In any case, I gathered up followers. We killed all of the guards and escaped in a ship. We tricked it out and made it the fastest ship on planet Gilligan. That's when we met…

"Nero."

The word sent shivers down Maddie's and Bryce's spines. They had heard accounts of what had happened. Jiando's story was beginning to lose its humor…

"He warned us that in one-hundred-twenty-nine years from that day, a star would go into supernova. We on Gilligan would be the first to go.

"The only way to stop it was to kill Spock."

Bryce's jaw went slack. "Why would killing Spock make everything _better_? Didn't he _try_ to help?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. The point is, he failed. If it was another Vulcan, they would have stopped it in time!

"Despite all of the bad memories on Gilligan, I needed to save my home planet if I wanted to make a name for myself and finally be loved. Therefore, I kidnapped Spock, and the whole chain of events unfolded. Then, you, miss, asked me why I _think_ I'm like this, to which I replied, 'It all started when I was born-'"

"Okay! Okay! We get it! Your mother called you Linda, your father hated you because you were too feminine, and everybody's dead. Yippee," Maddie recapped.

"No. That's not true. Thanks to you, the most important one, Spock, is still alive. Hand him over and I'll spare you. Even heal your…what the hell is he? He has the pointed ears, he's bleeding green, but he doesn't have Vulcan hair or eyes…" Jiando's eyes widened. "You have human eyes. They look like…"

_Oh shit._

"They look like Spock's eyes. Would you happen to be… his son?"

Maddie's eyes widened. This wasn't supposed to happen; Jiando was _supposed_ to be dumb! She met Bryce's terrified gaze with worry. Fear clouded the brown irises, and she could see him trembling, but still struggling to keep hold of the edge of the platform.

Bryce shook his head with difficulty. "N-no," he gasped. "You've got the wrong guy…"

"I actually recognize you…from the false transmissions we used to try to get Spock to crack… And your hair…it's light brown, and looks like your mother's, except for those odd ginger streaks. Definitely." Jiando's eyes glinted in happiness.

"No, that's not me!"

"Then what motives would you have for rescuing Spock? I swear, you are his son," the Gilligan sneered in glee.

"Look, pal. In order to question him further-"

Jiando swiveled his head to face Maddie. "And you look like Spock's companion; Captain Kirk. Are _you_ two related?"

Maddie shrugged nonchalantly. "Kirk's such a man-whore; I _might_ be his kid, but who knows? But if you wanted to interrogate him further, you might get better answers if he's _not_ dangling close to his death."

Jiando narrowed his eyes. "There's logic in that," he admitted, reaching down and pulling Bryce upward by his speckled hair.

Bryce cried out as he was dragged through the air and back onto the platform. Jiando threw him down hard, which silenced him. He lay there on his side, eyes closed, breathing heavily.

"Now, about that inquisition-" Jiando broke off as he was sucker-punched in the stomach. Maddie pushed him to the ground, stepping on his face.

"If you're smart, you won't get up again," she snarled. Madison rushed over to Bryce, on the ground. "Come on, we'd better get going!" she shook him.

"How're we going to get over that thing?" Bryce whispered, not getting up just yet.

Maddie grinned, and pressed her pointer finger to her thumb. A suction cup sprouted from each of her palms. "Come on, you coward," she crooned affectionately. "Let's go."

Bryce gritted his teeth and rose off the floor. "I think even my _hair_ hurts," he complained.

"Quit whining, you infant. Push your pointer finger to your thumb," Madison instructed.

Bryce obliged, rolling his eyes, and he pressed his hands against the fallen pole.

"Quickly now!" Maddie looked down at her companion, pulling her hand off the pole with a _thwork_. She giggled at the suction noise childishly. Climbing up on top of the pole, she took in the carnage and destruction around them. "Wow…" she breathed, and shook her head. "Well, better get going!"

Maddie hopped down from the pole…

To find Bryce, arms crossed, foot tapping; waiting for her.

She was astounded. "H-how'd you get over here so fast? I was taken by the notion that you were hurt!" Maddie's eyes narrowed; if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was lying.

Bryce raised an eyebrow, and jerked his thumb towards the broken end. "I walked around. It's pretty easy to step over the cracked part of the pole." Maddie could tell that, despite his injuries, her friend was struggling not to laugh.

"Shut up, dammit."

"And you're supposed to be the evil genius! The Mad Scientist!"

"Shut up. Or I will push you off this ledge myself."

"You wouldn't," Bryce sing-songed. "I know you too well."

"And _I_ know how to make it look like an accident. So don't cross me." Maddie glared at him. She'd spent enough time running away from foster homes all around the country and getting caught by the police to know her way around. If there was one thing you could say about Madison Kirk, she was street smart.

Bryce's eyes twinkled. "You know you _love_ me too much," he smiled teasingly.

"Let's get out of here," she hissed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes.

Chuckling under his breath, Bryce trailed behind her as she crossed over the bridge. "Whatever you say, Maddie Scientist!"

"I wouldn't be so cocky, Ginger. They can still kill us."

"Oh really?" Bryce raised an eyebrow. "I'm hurt enough as it is, so what else could possibly-"

"NO, DAMMIT! DON'T SAY THAT!" Maddie practically leaped at him. "Dumbass!"

"What's the problem with _that_? Something you saw in a movie too?" The pair started climbing the stairs.

"It happens _all_ the time, you moron! When someone says, 'What could possibly go wrong?' or 'At least it's not raining!' it always ends up going wrong or raining!" she waved her arms to emphasize her point.

"Oh, come on, Maddie," Bryce rolled his eyes. "You have _got_ to stop living in a fantasy, hollywood world. You're so childish sometimes, it's hard for me to think. You need to grow up."

Maddie clenched her jaw. "What about you, mister 'uptight-responsible-goody-goody?' Always playing by the rules, always wanting to please others, and never fulfill your own needs. You-"

"Pardon me, but my very presence here is breaking rules!"

"That's my point! Being here makes you edgy; I can feel it! You don't have dreams, ambitions of your own; you don't know who you are, or what the hell you want to do with your life, so you follow in your father's footsteps, hoping that every word he speaks to you will give you some clue of who you're going to be!" Maddie breathed heavily after her vicious tirade.

Bryce clenched his teeth and looked away; Maddie could tell he looked hurt. "Why don't we just split up?" he whispered.

Maddie shrugged exasperatedly. He never made her angry like this before…she never had dealt well with bullshit. She regretted exploding at him, but he was just not trusting her!

"Fine by me, but just so you know, I _could've_ very well left you to die here. The fact that I've saved your life should mean _something_ to you! You could _try_ trusting me! In case you've forgotten, I've led a successful rescue mission before!"

Bryce sighed. "No, I haven't forgotten. Lyric will never let me forget. I am indebted to you," he admitted. "And I truly do trust you, but I suggest that we might find the rendezvous point faster if we split up. And it might clear both of our-" He went to step up to another stair, but tripped onto his face. "-heads…" he groaned.

Maddie looked up. "It seems we've climbed too far…" No more stairs rose up in front of them; the cieling was curved. Maddie checked her watch; they didn't have much time left. "Well," she clapped her hands together. "Only way to go is that way," she pointed down the hall. "Come on. Splitting up is a bad idea, especially now."

Bryce nodded, and rose shakily from the floor, hacking up a glob of green blood and spitting it to his right.

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Charming. You are _such_ a…"

"I'm a what?"

"You're such a _boy_."

Bryce flashed a crooked smile. "Why thank you."

"Do you trust me?"

"You? Yes. Your movie-based logic? Not necessarily."

"We're not dead yet."

"…You've got a point there."

The two traipsed down the hall, as quietly as possible.

Jiando rose, groaning, from the ground. He saw the girl jump off the pole, and pounded his fist.

"They will not leave this ship…alive," he vowed. Spock's son was not allowed to live another hour. Even if his father still breathed, Jiando could get the next best thing.

His only son; his one heir.

Pursing his beak, he wondered what Spock and his wife, Nyota Uhura, thought of their son. No doubt they were loving parents, as much as Spock might not show it. He came to Spock's rescue; there had to be a deep determination to protect family members. They had to be proud of him; smile marks were present at the edges of his mouth, or that might be a mark from Jiando's claw from earlier.

But who wouldn't be proud of a handsome son who would go to the edges of the galaxy to save one he loved? No doubt he was smart; he had been undetected, as had been his companion.

They both must die.

Jiando's thought process was simple; alert guards, surround, shoot to kill, show no mercy.

The first thing to do was get off this platform and push the button that alerted the crew of intruders.

**Long chapter is long! XD Anyone who catches the quote/reference from an old Star Trek movie gets a cookie!  
**


	27. Break

Sirens blared out, alerting the Gilligan crew that intruders were aboard.

"Come on, Bryce!" Maddie cried, grabbing Bryce's arm and making him wince. The time for silence was, quite apparently, over.

"What the hell?" Bryce grimaced. "I thought you got your point across quite nicely before. It's never easy for us, is it?"

Maddie shook her head. "Nope. Never. Up there," she jerked her chin to a ladder leading, probably, to the roof. "We're on the planet, so there'll be breathable air, not a vacuum," she pointed out as she began to climb.

Bryce stared, dumbstruck, at the ladder. "Sure that's safe?"

"You're such a baby."

"But is it safe?"

The captain's daughter rolled her eyes. "Was this whole _trip_ safe, burn-boy?" she referred to the still-throbbing marks on her friend's chest.

Bryce ground his teeth together and began to climb. "Touche."

Maddie twisted the hatch at the top and popped it open. "This way, quickly," she whispered, climbing out and reaching out a hand for her companion. He grabbed it, his face contorting in pain with the effort of climbing up.

The wind on planet Gilligan was strong, the views a hue of light yellow.

"Look…" Maddie breathed, pointing off the side of the ship as Bryce hauled himself through the manhole. "Now I can see why he didn't want the planet destroyed." Trees stretched for miles beyond the town they were in earlier, and it was just a breathtaking view.

Bryce yawned, rising from the roof to a sitting position. "Yeah… Maddie, I'm so tired. Can't we just chill here for a while?" Anyone could see that he was on the verge of falling asleep, the way his brown-ginger hair flopped into his face, and the way his eyelids twitched with the effort of staying open.

"There'd be a few problems with that. Number one, once you sleep, it takes a bullet next to your ear to wake you. Two, if you have a concussion, you wouldn't wake up, period. Three-"

"You wouldn't have the chance to scream and beg for mercy."

"God _fucking_ damn it, man!" Lyric cried. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

"That, maybe, we could get out of here faster?" Kirk asked hopefully. Lyric, not taking any more risks, had strapped the captain of the _Enterprise_ to his bed.

"No, you _weren't_ thinking at all, asshole! If you'd gotten killed, or captured _then_ killed, then all of Maddie and Bryce's work would be for goddamn _nothing_! Do you not see that they did all of this for _you_?" Lyric's face was turning red. She was tempted to slap the shit out of him. "And another thing, where the fuck did you get that?" she pointed to the side of Kirk's biobed.

Kirk blinked at it. "What the hell is that?"

"You legitimately _just noticed_ the bag? It's Maddie's bag, the one she keeps all of her crap in! How'd you get it?"

Kirk's eyes widened. "I have no goddamn clue!"

Lyric reached in the bag and drew out the flamethrower with a grin. She could at least have some fun while Maddie was out… It got boring, aiming only a punch or two at Claire's face.

"Oh, Lanade! I have a surprise for you!" Lyric sing-songed as she turned on the flamethrower and tossed it into the supply closet, where Claire had been thrown. Cocking her head and grinning, Lyric waited for the wail.

It came swiftly.

"Ah, music to my ears!" Lyric sighed.

"You're sadistic!" Kirk gasped.

The young McCoy flipped her short-cropped brown hair. "Thank you!" Getting back to business, the young doctor scooted over to the medicine shelves. "We're running low on meds," she muttered. "I don't know what's going to keep Spock alive until we get to the _Enterprise_. If only we had had the goddamn Tarden root in stock!"

Kirk blinked wide, blue eyes. "He'll be okay, won't he? He's strong enough…" He glanced over at the unmoving figure in the biobed on the other end of the ward. The Vulcan's contortions had eased, but Kirk could tell his sleep was tortured.

Lyric sighed. She wanted, more than anything at the minute, to put the Captain's mind at ease. But she was a doctor, and she had to tell it like it was. "If Maddie and Bryce don't get back within thirty seconds…

"Spock's got a slimmer chance than before."

Brendan Jones sighed as he sat at the helm. Sulu was in the captain's chair, but his discomfort was obvious; he didn't like what it meant for him to be there.

"Um, Mister Scott," Hikaru asked, clearing his throat. "How fast are we going?"

"Warp factor 9, Mister Sulu," came the reply. "Should be there with'n two'r three hours, from the look of it."

Sulu tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. "Very well, carry on."

Brendan sighed and rose from his seat. "Mister Sulu," he pointed out politely. "Just because you're acting captain doesn't mean you have to sit in the chair if you don't want to. You can sit at your station, I think." The English boy had no clue if what he just said was in the protocol, but it didn't matter so long as the Helmsman was more at ease.

Sulu pursed his lips. "I-I know, but…"

"It's what Spock would do?" Brendan guessed.

"I guess so," Sulu replied. "And if he does it, it's supposed to go that way."

Brendan let out a breath. The faith the crew had in Spock was… staggering. "Alright then," he jerked his head over to the monitor. "We're approaching a system."

"Which one? Can't get too close to the Romulan Neutral Zone…" Sulu pointed out.

"Nowhere near it; it's lightyears behind us. We're approaching the Sorrin system." Brendan saw Chekov tense, and whirled around to se Sulu blink hard. "What's wrong with this system?" he inquired.

Chekov grimaced. "Haven't been arount thees sektor een yeers…"

Uhura piped up from her console. "This system always gives me the chills."

Suddenly the hair on the back of Brendan's neck started to rise. "What the…" He had missed something; a glance, a text message, something. But what it was would have to wait until everything cooled down.

Sulu pushed a button on the captain's chair; a sent out signal that showed the _Enterprise_ meant no harm.

Assuming by the lack of phaser fire that the planet had gotten the message, Brendan let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

His hands, however, didn't unclench from the chair until the starship was long past Sorrin.

Amanda sighed as she patted her brother's head. He had finally gotten some sense and taken a three-hour nap. Occasionally, Adonis rolled over and muttered to himself. It made Amanda smile.

"Hey, Amanda?" a quiet voice whispered. Amanda turned to see Jeremy Spindler in the doorway. She rose to meet him.

"What's up?" she asked.

"There's something going on with the monitor. Brendan's up on the bridge; I need your help with it."

The pair traipsed through the halls of the starship. The door to Brendan's room whooshed open, and they stepped inside.

Amanda cracked her knuckles and sat down in the chair, instantaneously tapping in commands. One of the monitors was fine, but the other…

"There's a lot of static on Maddie and Bryce's line," she murmured. "Wonder what's going on over there."

"My thoughts exactly," the engineering apprentice said. "I've tried everything; think they're being bugged?"

"How? If Maddie's as good at inventing as we know her to be, they wouldn't even know that they had the contacts and tic-tacs. I think it's just that they're jamming _all _wireless communications there, assuming they have connections to the _Leviathan_, to try to knock them out."

Jeremy nodded. "That makes perfect sense. So, how do we fix this? We've got nothin' on them; no visual, no audio…"

Amanda traced her tongue over her teeth, deep in thought. "I can fix the audio issue," she said slowly. "But we might not have visual. I'll do my best though."

Before Jeremy had the chance to respond, Amanda was under the console, reaching into the toolkit to snip and soldering wires.

Jeremy's eyes widened as the sound of rushing wind filled his ear cavities. "Whoa! You did it!" he cheered.

Amanda smiled. "I know I did."

Bryce gulped inaudibly as he gazed up at Jiando. _Crap_. They'd come so far.

For this.

"What are you doing here?" he tried to ask bravely.

"This happens to be my ship, boy, where _you_ are trespassing," the Gilligan spat back. "So, I think I shall throw you off this ship…quite literally. Any last words?"

"Request for a quick conference before we are thrown to our deaths?" Maddie piped up.

Jiando stroked his chin. "You know what, I think I'll bring you _inside_ and murder you there."

Maddie narrowed her eyes. "Fine, then. Request for a quick conference before we are, ah, dragged to our deaths?"

Bryce looked at his friend quickly. She looked back at him, blue eyes glinting. She was up to something. He knew. He always knew.

"No way! Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to give you a chance to plot your escape?" Jiando snarled. "Guards! Take them!"

"No!" Bryce blurted out. "I mean, we probably won't cooperate if you have your guards attack us now. We'll fight back."

Jiando snorted. "Of _course_. Because you are _really_ in the position to be fighting back. How are those wounds treating you?"

Bryce's broken fingers twitched, and a shock jolted up his arm. He kept his features still, despite the pure agony.

Madison put on a look of desperation and the air of giving up hope. "Please?" she whimpered. "It'll also be a good chance to say…goodbye." She choked on the last word.

Her friend nearly burst into applause. Maddie could certainly be prided on her acting skills.

Jiando grimaced, as if he wanted to get the killing over with. "Very well. A short conference. But it's over when I say it's over. Got it?"

Maddie nodded. "Understood." She turned to Bryce as Jiando stepped away. "Okay, what do we do?"

Bryce's eyes widened. "I thought _you_ had the plan here!"

"I've been making this up as I go, Bryce. Now what next?"

"You tell me!"

Maddie rubbed her head. "Think, think, think."

"We're running out of time!" Bryce panicked, running his unbroken fingers through his spiked hair.

"Okay! Okay! Here's what we're going to do…"

"Time's up!" Jiando called. "You'd better come straight here."

Bryce put up his hands in surrender. "Alright, we'll do what you say."

"But before we die, we have a few requests," Madison pointed a finger.

"What?"

Bryce raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you heard of 'last requests?'"

Jiando pinched the bridge of his beak. "Go on."

"First, no restraints. We promise to cooperate with no cuffs, shackles, etcetera."

The guards didn't make a move.

"Drop them," Maddie commanded, as if she were talking to dogs.

The cuffs and chains clattered reluctantly to the roof.

"Second of all, since we will be cooperating, half of those guards can go. Bye bye!" Maddie waved. And the guards left obediently at a flick of Jiando's hand.

"Anything else?"

Bryce looked at Maddie again, who nodded. "Nope, we're good."

"Fine then. Come here."

Maddie sighed exaggeratedly. _Smooth,_ Bryce thought. But that was the signal, no matter how ridiculous.

Bryce rushed forward and jumped down the hatch that had been left open before Jiando had the chance to say, "What the-?"

"Oof!" Bryce landed on his feet, but lost his balance swiftly. He wasn't hurt too much more than he was already, and he picked himself up and brushed his shoulders. He winced in pain as he realized he shouldn't have done that…

"Maddie!" he called up. She should be right behind him… "It's not that far a drop, Mads! Come on!"

He looked towards the hatch and realized what was keeping his friend.

A Gilligan guard had her by the wrist as she dangled over the open hole. She screamed, trying to aggravate the sensitive Gilligan hearing-holes, Bryce guessed. Either way, she wasn't doing a very good job of making his hearing-holes irritate him.

As Bryce watched in horror, Maddie struggled against the vice grip, causing the Gilligan to smash her arm into the sides of the hatch.

She screeched in pain, but kicked and flailed harder than ever. "Let! Me! Go!"

Bryce patted his pockets to see if there was anything he could throw to loosen the guard's hold. He found a phaser, but he wasn't sure whether it shot bubbles or not. There was only one way to find out. He pulled the trigger. A phaser blast hit the wall. Wasting no time, Bryce fired another shot at the Gilligan's arm. It made contact, and Maddie went careening towards the ground with a shriek.

"I've got you, Maddie!" Bryce cried. At the last minute, he remembered that they were seventeen, and she weighed substantially more than when she was thirteen.

Madison crashed into her friend, knocking him to the ground. He wailed in pain as his wounds were aggravated. But she didn't care at the moment.

"My arm, my arm," she whimpered, cradling her right arm. "He broke my fucking arm!"

"Maddie…" Bryce let out a muffled moan. "Please get off me."

She rolled to the side and helped him up. Not pausing to even catch his breath, he dragged his friend by the left hand down the hall, racing down the stairs, not caring which wall her arm hit. Being in pain was good. Being in pain meant you were still alive. At least, that was what Bryce kept assuring himself.

"Get them!"

"Don't let them get away!"

"Bryce!" Maddie shrieked. "It's a dead end!"

Bryce glanced around quickly. "There's _never_ a dead end," he snarled, whipping his childhood friend around, smashing through a door. He took off down the hall that brought new possibility of escape.

Maddie screamed as a guard made a swipe for her and accidentally yanked on her hair.

The Gilligans were hot on their trail.

"We've got company!"

"You _think_?" Maddie hissed.

Bryce grimaced and rolled his eyes as he pulled Maddie around a corner. More guards swarmed out of other halls; the sight of green was nauseating.

"Bryce!" Maddie wailed. "We're going to die!"

"Oh no we're not," he growled. "Not if I can help it."

They darted through the halls of the ship, ignoring the sirens around them.

"Get them, fools! Kill them!"

Maddie gasped as her arm was jostled. Ahead of her, Bryce's gaze flicked back and forth from hers to the path ahead. His brown eyes were alight with fear, which he masked with a slight grin.

"Don't worry," his voice sounded against the screams of alarms. It was calm and even, and made Maddie feel…slightly safe, despite their predicament. "I promise we'll get out of this."

"Alive?" she breathed. Bryce didn't answer. His eyes were on the road again. She couldn't tell if he heard her or not, but knowing those Vulcan ears of his, he probably had.

She just barely heard the announcement made via megaphone. "Fire at will! Fire everything! Shoot them!"

Seconds after, Maddie nearly froze. Here was a noise she had only heard in movies, and it sent shivers down her spine.

It was the sound of a gunshot.

"They don't use phasers like normal people?" Maddie screamed. "Run! Faster!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Bryce replied. Pain and panic shone on his face as he attempted to pick up his pace.

Maddie grimaced as she tried to keep up. She saw that Bryce's muscles were tense, and blood trickled from all over. They had to get out of there, stat.

Suddenly, her ankle twisted and she cannoned into the ground. Bryce whirled around the instant her hand was wrenched from his, and he was holding her by the uninjured arm, dragging her as best he could. She tried to run on her own two feet, but her other ankle buckled and she fell again. The captain's daughter gave up on the hope of surviving, and she went limp. "Well, this seems awfully familiar," she thought.

"Maddie!" he wailed, pulling her again. The bullets flew around them. "Maddie! You have to get up! Come on!"

"Get out of here," she groaned. "Get back to the _Enterprise_ safely, got it?"

"No way!" Bryce pulled her upright. "Both of us or neither of us, Mads."

"That's an order."

"You're not my Captain, or my mother," Bryce's eyes glinted. "Now come." He pushed her in front of him, steering her quickly towards the rendezvous point.

And then, there was a loud _crack!_ as another gun went off.

Maddie's stomach dropped as she heard it; a terrible sense of foreboding sent her heart racing.

The world switched to slow motion.

Maddie turned her head back, just in time to see Bryce stagger as he was hit with a bullet.

He still gripped her hand tightly, meeting her gaze. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was tight. The brown irises were clouded with anxiety, fear, and a slight hopelessness.

He made the mistake of turning around, and countless shots went off. He convulsed and fell to the ground, in a quickly forming pool of green blood. Having his hand yanked from Maddie's, she tumbled to the floor.

"No!" Madison cried. It echoed off the steel walls. She reached out for her friend, who didn't respond at all.

Everything was back to normal speed. "Bryce! Bryce!" she crawled over and shook him. "Wake up!"

The guns had stopped firing.

"Get up! Get up!" His eyes were closed, and he was barely breathing. Blood trickled out of his mouth and other wounds on his body. "Please get up…"

Tears welling up in Maddie's eyes, she pulled back one of her friend's eyelids. It was frightening to see the calm, shining eyes so lifeless and…dead.

A Gilligan stepped forward, most likely to apprehend her. "Don't you _dare_ come any closer," Maddie snarled. The Gilligan cowered back immediately.

"Come on, Bryce. Get up!" she begged. "Please! You have to get up!"

She examined her friend's lifeless body, checking for a pulse and how extensive his wounds truly were.

She found a pulse, but it was frighteningly faint. There were bullet holes on the backs of his legs and on his shoulder, one or two on his back, a few in his stomach, and one at the base of his neck. He needed medical attention, fast.

"Bryce," Maddie whimpered. "Oh, no."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Seize her!" Maddie heard Jiando cry, but his voice was distant, far away.

No one moved.

"What are you waiting for? That was an order!" Jiando screeched. At that, the Gilligans started to charge.

Maddie pulled out a phaser with her good arm and fired at the onslaught of reptilians. She must have hit a couple with her unaimed shooting, because the number seemed to deplete, only to be replenished like a hydra head; two grew back for every one cut down.

"Lyric," she whispered. "Beam us up. Now."

On the _Leviathan_, Lyric heard the message loud and clear. "Mads, what's goin' on down there?"

"_Lyric, just beam us up! Quickly!"_

Ly clicked on the button. "Shit."

"What?" Kirk mumbled from his biobed. "What's wrong?"

"Maddie and Bryce aren't close enough to the rendezvous point for me to get them up here. They're screwed."

"Let me up, and I can tap them in!" Kirk squirmed. "I'm fit enough! You've healed me fine for now!"

Lyric hesitated.

"Every second you keep me tied here is one less second they have to live! Now do you want to help your friends, or do you want them to die?"

She scrunched up her face, hating to admit the captain was right. "Ugh, fine! Fine!" she cried, exasperatedly releasing his bindings. He leapt up and raced as fast as he could to the control panel.

"Two life forms, locking on…"

Maddie didn't notice the shimmering lights around her and Bryce.

But the Gilligans sure did. Jiando's eyes widened. "Fire! Fire everything!"

Bullets flew in the air. A few hit the wounded masses on the ground. Maddie wailed as her broken arm was hit. Bryce said nothing and barely moved.

As one made contact with Maddie's leg, they disappeared.

"Lyric!" Kirk wailed as the bloody bundles appeared on the floor. "Lyric! Help them!" he raced over and felt his daughter's forehead. "Mads, are you okay?"

She stared bewilderedly back at him. "I have a broken arm with a bullet in it, and two sprained ankles. Yes, dad. I'm totally fine."

"You've got your wit; you can't be that badly hurt. Hard to keep a good Kirk down!" he chuckled in relief. It was the only way to lift the tension. Then he noticed the heap of green blood, and his eyes widened. "W-what happened?"

Maddie dropped her gaze. "He got shot. All over. So much blood…"

Lyric groaned as she tried to roll Bryce onto the stretcher. "A little help, please?" she spat at Kirk, who was awkwardly patting his daughter on the shoulder. "This jerk is heavy!"

Kirk left Maddie to help Lyric with Bryce's feet. "This kid could always sleep through anything," he winced as his own wounds stung. The movement made him accidentally let Bryce's hit the side of the gurney.

"Comments on Bryce's sleep habits can wait! Just help me!" Lyric shoved Bryce into an empty biobed.

The kid was a deadweight, Kirk thought. "What's your verdict, doc?" he grimaced, collapsing onto the side of the bed after his help was no longer needed. "Will he make it?"

The biobed bleeped a warning, and Lyric snapped at it. "I know! I know! Blood loss can be fatal! Stupid bed," she muttered. She didn't answer Kirk's question.

"Lyric-"

"I don't know!" Lyric turned on him, fire blazing in her eyes. "I don't know, alright? I'm doing the best goddamn job I can, and if you don't like it, do it yourself!"

Kirk staggered backwards, away from the raging doctor. "Take it easy, McCoy!"

"Guys…" Maddie's soft voice, barely above a whisper, sounded from the bridge. She had crawled over to the captain's chair and had hauled herself up. The monitors were fixed, but that didn't make anyone feel any better.

"We've got company."


End file.
